


Dual Citzenship

by wicked17writer



Series: A Citizen's Duty Series [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Ant-Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Jessica Jones (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Depression, F/M, Family, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kid Fic, Mind Manipulation, Multi, Non-Consensual Touching, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Threesome - F/M/M, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:02:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 170,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22553698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wicked17writer/pseuds/wicked17writer
Summary: Darcy has a newborn to care for and an alien world to contend with. Reuniting with those she love is her top priority.Final Trilogy Story in 'Citzen's Duty' Series! (Other 2 stories are essential reading)
Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Thor, Darcy Lewis & the Asgardians, Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers, Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Darcy Lewis/Thor, Darcy Lewis/Tony Stark, Darcy Lewis/Tony Stark/Thor, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis
Series: A Citizen's Duty Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/870762
Comments: 251
Kudos: 148





	1. Chapter 1 - Magical Shortcut

Chapter 1 – Magical Shortcut

“What’s he doing now?” 

“The man Stark is giving your son a bath.” There was an edge to Heimdall’s voice as he added. “Just as I told you not five minutes ago.” 

Taking the hint she averted her eyes as the aggravated man downed the rest of his mead in one long chug. Feeling flustered Darcy lifted the neck of her poncho to peek briefly at Alice. Her baby was suckling at her breast under the covering designed for her modesty’s sake. 

It was a surprise how easily the babe took to the tit, she’d read a lot of stuff about how some women struggled to achieve what had come so naturally to Darcy and Alice. It made her think of her other children and worry that when they reunited they wouldn’t be as close. The act of feeding her child with the milk her body produced was very intimate and had bonded her and Alice in a way that Darcy could hardly put into words. 

Alice glanced up at her when she spied Darcy peeking in on her. But her girl was a hungry one. She contentedly fed and had no need for her mother’s attention, her eyes glazing over as she sucked and stared into nothingness. 

With a sigh her thoughts drifted back to Maria-Sarah and Anthony. The children who she had breastfed. Or held. Or kissed good night. Or anything beyond birthed and abandoned them. 

“Are they finished with bath time yet?” She asked the Gatekeeper. “Does Anthony look like he’s enjoying it?” 

With a sigh he replied. “No. They are not finished. The child looks…amused? Happy.” He met her eyes. “You son looks happy.” 

She wished she could see what Heimdall was seeing. She knew she was annoying the man but just couldn’t help herself. “And what’s Steve doing?” 

“He is at the helm of one of your horseless carriages.”

“Cars.” She corrected automatically. She’d taken it upon herself to enlighten the Asgardians to Earth’s lingo. 

“He is at the helm of a car.” Heimdall corrected himself, nodding at her in acknowledgement. “His companion Son of Will sits in the back with Alice’s twin sister. She is secured tightly and sleeping soundly as they travel. It is night where he is.” 

She pressed her lips together in an effort to contain her whine. She wished Heimdall had the gift of ‘all hearing’ instead of just all seeing. She wanted to know what was going on back home more than anything. It seemed as if every time she asked Heimdall about what Steve and Tony were doing they weren’t together and she desperately wanted to know why. 

“I need another drink.” Heimdall announced as he stood up from the table. “Would you like another ale Lady Darcy?” 

She eyed her untouched tankard. “No. I’m fine.” Asgardians apparently encouraged women who were breastfeeding to drink alcohol. Yet another fun cultural difference Darcy had discovered.

With a nod Heimdall went to the bar, leaving her alone at the table. It was the middle of the day so the place was pretty empty, but she still felt a little uncomfortable breastfeeding in public now that her giant human shield was gone. Her eyes darted over to the elderly looking men sharing a few mugs in the corner. They did look up as Heimdall made his way to the bar, but when they looked over to her their gazes didn’t linger. For which she was grateful.

Out of all the people on Asgard she’d spent the most amount of time with Thor and Heimdall, but for one of the pair she suspected her presence was starting to irritate. Not that the dark skinned man had said anything of the kind, but because she knew it couldn’t be fun fielding her questions all day. Nor did he enjoy dealing with her emotional outbursts. 

She found the man floundered whenever she dissolved into tears. More often than not Heimdall left her sobbing, mumbling an excuse as he ran off to find Thor. The blonde prince was her lifeline on Asgard, which was clear to anyone with eyes. He was surprisingly adept at dealing with her weepiness, he had no fear when it came to wiping at her snot covered face, nor did he hesitate to wrap her in his arms and give her whatever meager comfort he could. 

Heimdall had tried to hug her once, it was after he’d told her there was a hole in Tony’s chest and something made of metal and light had been inserted presumably to keep him alive. With the man’s ever present golden armor in place, he had accidently cut her cheek during the awkward embrace. He’d yet to try to comfort her again. 

When Alice started fussing Darcy hurriedly moved her baby to the other side of her chest so she could suckle her other breast. It was a weird juggling act, exposing her breast while trying to remain hidden under the poncho whilst simultaneously getting Alice in a comfortable position to latch on to feed. Whenever she fed her baby she thought back to the months of pregnancy preparation she’d engaged in back on Earth.

All the books she’d read, all the plans they’d made, all the things she bought. It felt like a waste. She felt like a waste. A pathetic excuse for a mother. Her babies deserved better and she felt like a failure for not being there for _all_ her children, despite intellectually knowing there was nothing she could have done differently to have changed the outcome. 

Still, she’d been adamant about trying to breastfeed all the babies. All the baby books said it was best for the baby and that’s what she wanted. What was best for her babies. All of her babies. Sitting there in the tavern she was once again reminded that her children were being deprived. She wasn’t there for Maria-Sarah and Anthony like she was Alice. She didn’t sing them to sleep. She didn’t hold them when they cried. She didn’t feed them. Or change their diapers. Or know what their hungry cry sounded like as opposed to their ‘I’m feeling needy and I want attention’ cry. She didn’t know her children. And they didn’t know her. And _that_ was a devastating thought. 

Every day she was separated from her other children she felt like the chasm between them grew larger and larger. She worried how missing the first weeks of their lives might impact their relationship for the rest of their lives. And yet she could do nothing to change things. And so she worried. She worried and thought and made herself so sick with thoughts that she couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. She was like a zombie during the day. 

All she wanted to do was lie in bed all day and do nothing. Succumb to her fate and give into despair. Truthfully if it wasn’t for Alice she probably wouldn’t even wake up in the morning.

Her child was saving her life just by existing. And it made her feel pathetic. Alice might be the infant but Darcy felt she was being a stupid baby about everything. 

She sought out Heimdall every day and talked his ear off and annoyed the crap out of him just because of how weak she was. And he tolerated her with compassion. He was the only connection she had to her babies. To her lovers and home. He withstood her endless questions, her tearful breakdowns and he did it all with grace. She didn’t deserve his kindness.  
.  
.  
.  
When Alice finished feeding, Darcy righted herself under the poncho and then finally lifted the babe out of the darkness. There was a little flash of light obscuring her vision and she knew it had to be from exhaustion or something, but didn’t really know what to do about it. She cradled Alice to her chest and patted her back, praying her vision would return to normal on its own. 

When Heimdall returned to the table he smiled at the sight of her daughter. 

“Hello again Lady Alice.” He greeted with a broad grin. Alice gurgled and flapped her hands at the man in acknowledgment. The sight of her happy baby made her smile and tears spring to her eyes. Her emotions were so unpredictable. Sometimes when Alice smiled it was like the world stopped and everything was perfect. Other times, every moment of happiness with Alice felt like one she was missing with her other children. 

In an effort to keep the encounter from turning uncomfortable Darcy ducked her head hiding her face with her hair. The suffocating helplessness she was feeling had her on the verge of another breakdown, but she tried to hold it together so she could breakdown in peace. Lifting her arms she offered up the baby. “Can you hold her, Heimdall? I need to pee.” 

“But of course.” He agreed easily, taking the baby out of her arms and freeing Darcy to run to the bathroom. Except, she stood up to fast. 

Lightheaded, Darcy stood waiting for the sensation to pass. The bright light streaming in through the windows was irritating; she put a hand over her eyes and just stood still hoping all her symptoms would subside and give her a moment’s respite. 

“Are you alright Lady Darcy?” Heimdall asked, worry creeping into his tone. She wasn’t fine. The flash of light she saw when her eyes were open was still there when they were closed. 

“M’kay.” She mumbled as she staggered towards the bathroom. She knew the layout of the tavern, she figured she could navigate the short distance despite not really being able to see where she was going. 

She was wrong. 

Her vision grew blurrier as tears rained down her face. And the flash of light that was obscuring her vision was now accompanied by a stabbing pain. 

“Darcy!” Heimdall called out in concern as she banged into a table, tripped, slammed her head into the corner of a table, before finally landing sprawled out on the floor. 

“Lady Darcy!” Heimdall exclaimed as he ran to her aid. As she lost consciousness she had the thought, ‘might as well add a head injury into the mix, she was already dying of a broken heart.’  
.  
.  
.  
She woke up in the healing room. The finely wrinkled visage of Lady Eir loomed over her. 

“You have not been taking care of yourself Lady Darcy.” The woman said reproachfully, as she applied some stinging goop to her forehead. “This will leave a scar.” 

“No shit.” Darcy replied grouchily. 

“You could have fallen with the Lady Alice in your arms.” A disembodied feminine voice chastised. Turning her head she found Queen Frigga frowning at her. Thor stood next to his mother with a pensive expression on his face and a sleeping Alice in his arms. 

“I handed her off before I fell.” Darcy defended. 

Thor’s mom took a step forward. “And if you hadn’t?” 

“You have not been eating much breakfast these past few mornings.” Thor said quietly. “And I know with the young babe you must be suffering without proper rest.” He was trying to be nice about how shitty was doing as a new mom and Darcy felt irrationally angry about him tip toeing around her failure. 

“I wasn’t supposed to be a single mother.” She spat out meanly. “I was supposed to have a husband and a partner and friends and family and a super fucking efficient AI watching over me and my babies every move!” She pushed away Lady Eir’s delicate hands and sat up, pausing to let the feeling of dizziness pass before adding in a tired voice. “I’m doing the best I can.” 

“No you are not.” Frigga said frankly. “You can do better. I know you have greatness in you Lady Darcy. You must do better. If not for yourself, then for your child. She is counting on you.” 

She glared at the older woman. She wanted to shout at her that she _was trying_ but maybe the truth was Darcy wasn’t good enough to be a mother. She was overwhelmed every day with all that she had to do to care for Alice. She was stressed about not knowing the fate of her family back on Earth. She was depressed. Exhausted. And…she just wanted to give up. It was too hard. Being a mom, being a person, being alone. Being so far, far, away from the people she loved. It was all too hard and she just wanted it all to stop hurting so much. 

Frigga looked disappointed in her and shame bloomed in her chest. But it quickly transformed into anger. Darcy wanted to scream and cry and rant and reveal everything she was thinking and feeling. Just unload on the older woman and wipe the superior expression off her face…but she held her tongue. Frigga wasn’t just Thor’s mom. She was the Queen of Asgard. And she was pretty sure losing her shit on the Queen would get her thrown into the dungeon.

“I haven’t been sleeping.” She admitted quietly. “I—I can’t sleep. I just, I think and think and think and I know I should sleep when I can, with the baby and all, but I can’t. My mind runs in circles, wondering, guessing, running out scenarios on what might be going on back home. And I…”

“You cannot focus on the here and now.” Frigga said as she drew closer. She took a gentle hand and caressed Darcy’s cheek. “Your heart is too big. It will not let your mind rest.” 

“Basically.” She said in relief that Frigga understood at least a small part of what she was going through. Looking down she found that her hands were shaking. Frigga gave her hands a reassuring squeeze then pressed a kiss to the uninjured portion of her forehead. 

“Something must be done.” Frigga announced. “I will have to think on this.” And with that the Queen swept out of the room. It was kind of weird and abrupt, but Darcy was in no position to judge.

“You must keep that cut bandaged.” Lady Eir ordered bring her attention back to what had landed her in the healing ward. The older woman pushed a bag of supplies into her hands and looked Darcy in the eyes. In a stern voice she lectured.“And you must find time to sleep. And eat. And do it on a normal schedule.”

Lady Eir looked over at Thor. “You should arrange to have a servant help her with the child. It is too much for her after such a heavy loss.”

No matter how true Lady Eir’s words were, the implication that she couldn’t handle holding herself together _and_ take care of Alice filled her with indignation. Defensively she interjected, “I don’t need a nanny. I’m fine. I can do this—everything by myself. I’ll be fine.”

“Your head wound implies differently, Lady Darcy.” Lady Eir sniffed. Then the healer threw her hands up in the air as if to say ‘I’m done with this bullshit’. “But it is no matter to me. You were injured; I have mended what I could. Take my advice or do not. My work here is done.” 

“Thank you Lady Eir.” Thor said sincerely as the woman lifted her skirt slightly and made to leave the room. “We appreciate your assistance.” 

Lady Eir left with a nod to her prince.

And then it was just her and Thor and the sleeping Alice. Darcy didn’t know what to do. Or say. So she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, hugging herself. She felt like she’d fucked up and finally let everyone in on the secret of how inadequate she really was. 

“I am sorry my Lady.” Thor apologized.

“What do you have to be sorry for?” She asked in a hollow voice. “I’m the one who took a header and made everyone doubt my competence as a mother.” 

“They—No one doubts your ability to mother your child.” Thor said quickly. “Your love for Alice is not in question. Nor is the soundness of your mind.” 

“That is not what I got from this little exchange.” She replied. 

Thor came over and easily sat next to her on the high exam slab. Her eyes shifted over to her daughter who slept soundly and looked perfect in her sleep. There were quiet for a little while. 

Thor seemed content to sit next to her and wait until she said something or indicated she was ready to leave. Slowly she released her knees and moved to sit side by side with the God. She pressed the length of her leg against his and took a second to marvel at the largess of the man beside her. 

“I feel like I’m screwing everything up and I don’t know how to stop myself.” She confessed in a small voice. “I feel like I’m going to fail her.” 

“Do you love your daughter?” Thor asked.

“Of course.” She answered.

“Then you have not failed her.” Thor said with a smile. “She is well fed. Rested. Loved. And that is what is most important.” He paused as if to let his words sink in before adding. “We just need to work on you taking care of _you_ as well as you care for the Lady Alice.” 

She snorted in derision. “Fat chance of that happening pal.” 

“You doubt your ability to care for your own well being?” Thor asked sounding non-judgmental, only curious.

“I..I don’t know.” She answered honestly. “I’m used to having people. People I love and trust, just around me. To talk to. To rely on. To pick up the slack or ask for advice. Or just tell me to stop worrying and get out of my own head. I-I don’t know if I can do this alone.”

“You are not alone.” Thor said softly. “I am with you.” The sincerity in his voice touched her heart, but something about his kindness made her want to lash out. 

“Yeah, but you’re only my friend because you have to be. Ya know, ‘cause of the guilt and obligation from accidentally trapping me here.” She avoided his eyes knowing her words weren’t true. She said them to hurt him. To get him to leave in a huff. Or admit he didn’t really like her. Or Cast her out. Exile--

“I love you.” 

“What?” She asked not knowing if she heard him correctly. 

He smiled at her and repeated the declaration. “I love you Lady Darcy.” 

“How?” 

“How?” Thor laughed quietly repeating the question. “How does one come to love another? Naturally? Slowly? Inevitably? My Lady, I do not know how to answer that question.”

“Why?” She breathed out the word, revealing the heart of the matter. “Why would you love me? How? I’ve been a mess since we met. Fat and huge. Emotional. Wild with the hormones and beleaguered with tearful breakdowns every five seconds. I mean…why would you say you love me?” 

“I said I love you because I do.” He said in a soft voice. “My friend, I love you and it disturbs me that you speak as if you are unworthy of love.” She looked over at him and found him completely serious. “You are beautiful. A beautiful soul and I find myself drawn to you. You love like no one I have ever seen. Freely and whole heartedly. You love with your entire being body, heart, and soul. It is a sight to behold. And I am honored to receive just a portion of that love as your friend.”

“The person you’re describing isn’t me. You’re leaving out all the crazy.” She argued. 

Thor wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. “The depth of your emotions move me, my Lady. You are set upon by depression most terrible, I know of no other in your place who would not react the same. But I see the truth of you. You are light. And grace. And love…I think you are the most feeling person I have ever met.” 

She was crying, because of course she was. Thor rubbed her arm and let her hide her face in his chest. He kept her daughter secure with his free arm and Darcy felt something inside her unknot. Thor was strength and dignity personified. She trusted him. With her life, with her daughter’s life. And realizing that she figured it was time to trust him with the truth. And show him some ‘BFF-level’ trust. 

She slid her arms around Thor’s waist and hugged him close as she confessed, “I think I need help.” 

“I am here.” Thor replied simply. 

“I feel like I’m drowning in quick sand.” The words came out of her mouth like a flood. “I’m tired all the time. I don’t want to eat anything. I’m sad whenever Alice is happy because her being happy means I’m not—I’m not on Earth with my other kids and. There’s nothing I can do about what happened. I’m here. They’re on Earth. And we’re apart. And I’m missing everything. And I can’t—I just can’t. It’s guilt and pain and grief and despair, everyday. And I feel guilty for feeling guilty because I’m here with Alice and that should be enough, I should focus on her and give her my best since she’s the only child I have--but I feel like I shouldn’t. Like if I can’t be ‘there’ for all my kids I shouldn’t be here for Alice now. I’m showing favoritism and I feel so stupidly guilty about it and. And that’s fucking crazy. And I don’t--I feel terrible from the moment I wake up until the minute I pass out from exhaustion. And I don’t know how to stop, to stop worrying and over-thinking and just like, sucking, at basically being a person.”

She felt Thor’s lips press a kiss to her bandage covered head and she let out loud exhale. She felt a release and relief, but couldn’t help but hold her breath. Thor. He’d seen her crying before, sad, but this was another level. She’d unloaded the full force of her crazy onto him and she didn’t know how he’d react.

“Do you love me?” He asked, throwing her off by seemingly ignoring everything she’d just said. 

“What?” She said automatically before adding. “Yeah…” Thor looked at her expectantly and Darcy figured he was looking for more than just ‘yeah’. So she elaborated. 

“Thor, you’ve been so unbelievably kind to me. I’ve been here a month, and like cried every day. And you haven’t thrown me out on my ass or told me to suck it up. You’ve just…been here for me. In the best way. And. You’re always in a good mood. Alice loves you. I mean, you’re an excellent diaper changer. I—you’re my best friend on Asgard.” She looked him in the eye as she said, “I love you too Thor.” 

Changing the subject _again_ Thor said. “You are not used to sleeping alone. Are you my Lady?” 

Not batting an eye at the non sequitur she replied, “No. Not anymore.” 

“If you will, I purpose you and Lady Alice join me in my room tonight. Perhaps with a companion you will find sleep more easily? And if not, we can speak of the things that continue to trouble you. Through commiseration find solace from the misery that plagues you.” 

Frankly, snuggling up with Thor sounded like heaven. “You don’t have to do that. I can-I’m a big girl Thor. I don’t need--”

“Please.” Thor said staying her words. “Let me try to help you find your way back to yourself.” He pressed another kiss to her forehead. “First we replenish your body then we set to work unburdening your mind.” 

“I don’t know what to say.” She admitted. The gesture was too big. Too kind. Too intimate. She didn’t know how to respond. 

“Then let us say no more.” He slid off the table and held out his hand to her. “Let us retire for the evening.” 

She was pretty sure it was the late afternoon, but she put her hand in his and let the warmth of his body reassure her that everything could be okay, someday. She let his strength support her as he helped her down. She followed him and he led her back to his room. Alice’s bassinet was already set up beside the bed. 

_Sneaky bastard._

“I feel like I should feel guilty for letting you help me.” She confessed as Thor settled Alice into her tiny bed. 

“Did I ever tell you why my father sent me to Earth?” Thor asked as he pulled back the covers and invited her to sit. 

She shook her head ‘no’ and let him take off her shoes, setting them down by the bedside table. Thor looked up at her, his crystal blue eyes meeting hers, as he gave her the barest hint of a smile and replied, “He wanted me to learn humility. It is why he stripped me of my powers and exiled me.” 

“Humility.” Darcy repeated as she let Thor maneuvered her legs under the covers, then tuck the blanket in around her. Her eyes tracked his movement as he went around the bed to the other side. 

“I was arrogant. Boastful. Thought I knew best. Thought I was ready to rule.” Thor explained. “I learned that there is so much I have yet to learn.” 

He slipped under the covers and looked at her, uncertainty in his eyes for the first time. She appreciated everything he was trying to do for her and tried to show it by reaching for him, silently asking him to come closer. Reassured, he scooted closer until he was pressed up against her body.

Darcy curled into a fetal position, facing away from him and towards her baby girl. 

Thor molded himself to her back and she took his hand in hers as it came to rest around her waist, linking threading their fingers together. It felt good to lay next to someone male and solid again. She felt safe. Physically and emotionally, and it was weird how reassuring it was. How un-tethered she had felt before that moment. 

“I don’t know if I’ll fall asleep any easier with you here…but thank you.” 

“Rest my Lady.” Thor counseled softly. To her great surprise she was asleep within minutes.  
.  
.  
.  
She woke to the sound of whispers. Blearily she opened her eyes and saw Frigga and Thor huddled near Alice’s bassinet. 

“Is something wrong?” She asked immediately her mind going to the worst possible scenario. 

“No.” Thor said quickly.

“I have a solution.” Frigga said, moving forward. “To ease your mind. And unburden your soul.” 

Sitting up against the headboard she rubbed at her eyes and asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means my mother wants to put a spell on you.” Thor said in a measured voice, not giving anything away. “She says it will help.”

“It will.” Frigga said confidently. 

“What’s the spell?” 

“It puts up a barrier in your mind.” Frigga explained, “Blocking out feelings tied to traumatic events. I have never used it before, but I have spent the night researching it and I am certain the spell will help you process your emotions in a more healthy way. You see the spell is designed to disintegrate slowly, over time, allowing you to cycle through the events and emotions at a leisurely pace.” 

Making Thor snort and Frigga smirk, Darcy replied without thinking. “That sounds dangerous and stupid. Let’s do it.”

She was all in favor of taking a magical shortcut to better ‘mental health’. She trusted Thor. She trusted his mom. It really was a no brainer. 

Frigga patted her arm. “Come with me.”  
.  
.  
.  
They went outside, just her and Frigga. Thor stayed behind to keep from interfering in the spell and also to look after Alice. The Queen had her sit in the middle of a circle of candles and rose petals. It was weird, but also really fragrant. She was glad this spell didn’t require any animal carcasses or anything. 

Frigga drew with her fingertip on Darcy’s head with some oils, making the whole event even smellier. But in a good way. 

The Queen then took up a position behind her, settling her hands over Darcy’s eyes. In a low monotone voice she instructed. “Close your eyes and think of nothing. Blank….Dark….Nothing.” 

Darcy did as she said and let her mind go blank. Or at least she tried to.

Frigga started whispering in a way that was barely audible. But as the ritual-spell-thingy went on, her voice grew in volume. She didn’t really understand everything Frigga was saying, it felt like it was not in another language but like she was talking backwards and her words were overlapping…somehow? Either way it became harder and harder for Darcy to keep her mind blank. 

She desperately wanted the spell to work.

She wanted to be a better mother.

A better person.

A better version of herself. 

She hoped the spell would do all that she hoped. 

When Frigga’s voice reached a crescendo, all bout shouting her magic words into the night air above them, an image of Tony and Steve came unbidden to her mind. She saw them as they were the first day she met them. During the Citizen’s Duty process.

And then there was pain, like migraine from hell. Then, nothing.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
“What the fuck is going on?!” Darcy screeched. Everything smelled weird, her butt was numb, and somebody’s hands were covering her face and she didn’t know why. 

“Lady Darcy?” An unfamiliar feminine voice asked as the hands drew away from her face. She whirled around and found an older unassuming looking woman staring at her with a hesitant expression on her face. “Did it work my dear?” 

“Did what work?” Darcy asked. “And who are you.” Looking around she didn’t recognize anything, she was in a garden? “And where am I?” 

Getting to her feet she saw that there were a bunch of candles and flower petals strewn around her in a circle.

“Is this a cult thing?” She pointed at the woman threateningly. “Is this a sex cult thing?” 

“You do not recognize me?” The older woman asked, worry lines etching around her mouth. 

“No.” Darcy said, alarm starting to creep into her tone. “Should I?” 

“I am Frigga…Queen of Asgard.” 

“Queen of What-gard?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> & bonus! You can look me up on the app and buy some of my crap!...I mean pre-loved treasures...I also am selling a lot of stuff new with tags. (Hell yeah, BLATANT SELF PROMOTION!!!!)  
> So....POSHMARK, try it!


	2. Chapter 2 – Day Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy goes on a peaceful day trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is long and has pictures at the end. Enjoy!

Chapter 2 – Day Trip

Waking up that morning Darcy felt a little excited and miraculously refreshed after finally getting a good night’s sleep. Well, good four hours sleep anyway. It taken her a little while to put the baby down by herself, but for the first time, she’d done it!

It had been a week since her memory got erased and she was still adjusting to being a mom. And frankly half the time she was still expecting someone to yank a virtual reality helmet off her head and tell her the simulation to find her Citizen’s Duty match was complete. But really, she _had_ come to accept the truth of what had happened to her. Unbelievable as it may be. 

Learning she was on an alien planet, magic was real, the Old Norse gods were actually aliens and somehow she’d endeared herself to the royal family? That was a mind fuck. Finding out the Queen of Asgardia had erased one year’s worth of her memories by accident? That was a life fuck. 

So was being presented with a baby she neither remembered conceiving nor birthing, nor had prepared for…it was a lot. Everything felt like a struggle, getting her to breast feed, putting her down for a nap, getting her to stop crying, but with a week’s worth of mom-ing under her belt, Darcy was feeling pretty not terrible at it.

And so, the first thing she did after getting out of bed was to check on the tiny sleeping babe. She blearily shuffled over to the Kraken crib and looked down on Alice Ozma Lewis, her daughter. She slept soundly in her tiny bed and Darcy could feel a groggy smile spread across her face. She had a really cute baby.

Meeting Alice was a surreal experience considering her last memory from back home (Earth), was getting ready to leave her shitty apartment to fulfill her Citizen’s Duty. She remembered being nervous but filled with hope that she would meet someone she was compatible with, who would want to raise a family with her and be her partner in all things. Meeting the child who resulted from that government arranged coupling was bizarre and sad and scary, but also kind of awesome. 

Darcy quickly scampered into the bathroom hoping she could take care of all her morning necessities before the baby woke up and demanded to be fed or changed. In a way she was disappointed that she didn’t remember all the fun naked bits that created her little girl. Not to mention the man who was her daughter’s father, but overall she was jazzed to finally be a mom. 

Also, to be honest not remembering the scary life threatening labor kind of sounded like a blessing in disguise. 

Alice and the mothering instincts she felt for the one month old baby helped her to be open to hearing out the preposterous story Frigga and Thor had to tell her after she got her memory erased. But what really sealed the deal was a smell. 

Somehow while she was freaking out, screeching, and basically accusing Frigga and Thor of drugging and kidnapping her, Thor managed to get the baby safely into her arms. When they said the child was hers she balked, but…she readjusted her hold of the newborn and then the beautiful crying baby quieted down. 

Thor and Frigga fell silent as she looked down at the babe with wispy blonde hairs and baby blue eyes. Despite being skeptical of their claim she searched the child’s face for her own features. Upon registering who was holding her, Alice calmed and Darcy did what felt natural. She cuddled her face close to the babies. When she pressed a kiss to the top of the babe’s head she also caught a whiff of something familiar… 

She knew from her college bio class that smells have a stronger link to memory and emotion than any of the other sense due to some neuroscience-y brain-y amygdala reason. And from a movie or maybe a book she remembered something about newborn’s heads scientifically smelling really, really good. So in spite of her dire situation, she snickered to herself. Discovering that it was true, that babies smelled weirdly good, just stuck her as funny.

And even better, this baby in particular smelled like _hers_. 

She was in shock. The smell of baby Alice was familiar to her. Holding the baby felt natural. When the baby reached out and grabbed Darcy’s nose, she fell in love and fully accepted the fact that somehow, someway, the baby she held was her daughter. 

That’s when Frigga approached her to try to explain what had happened to her and her memories. 

Just as Darcy was finishing up in the shower she heard the sound of Alice beginning to wail. Quickly she wrapped herself in a towel and rushed out of the room only to find her baby already being taken care of...by Thor. 

She stopped short as the tall imposing man baby talked to Alice then snuggled her to his chest. When patting her back did nothing to calm her, he lifted the babe and smelled her butt. She laughed out loud at his expression of revulsion. When his eyes flickered over to her his cheeks grew rosy. “Lady Darcy. I had hoped to attend to Lady Alice before your shower was interrupted.”

She double checked the secure-ness of the towel wrapped around her body as she approached Thor and her child. “Baby pooped?” She extended her arms and tried to project confidence. “Give her here. I’ve got it.” 

Thor turned his body away from her, cuddling her child to his chest protectively. He shook his head and ran a soothing hand over the babies back as she continued to cry. “No my lady. You may not remember our bargain, but I still do and I am a man of honor. I will change the Lady Alice’s soiled nappy, you return to your shower and get ready for the day ahead.” 

He grinned at her broadly and she smiled back, if not a little less enthusiastically. “I’m very much looking forward to reintroducing you to my friends.”   
His brow then furrowed as he grew flustered and contemplative. “Not that you knew them very well _before_. Due to your –uh--desire for limited social interaction during your first few weeks on Asgard. Not that I am sitting in judgment of your actions! I mean to say, with all of that sadness laying so heavy in your heart it was understandable you did not wish to-” he shook his head as if ridding himself of unpleasant thoughts. “It is of no matter now. It is a new glorious day! And I assure you this afternoon’s picnic will be a most enjoyable outing.”

“Thor I appreciate the help and all but-” She began, but he turned away from her ignoring whatever she protest she was trying to voice as he moved to the little changing table in the corner. 

“If you hurry getting dress we will be sure to catch my mother at the break fasting table.” Thor said dismissively but also, kindly. “I know how she loves to check in with you and the fair Lady Alice every morn.” 

With a sigh of defeat she moved to the armoire and pulled out the outfit that she’d chosen the night prior. She didn’t know how she felt about Thor invading her room to steal part of her mommy duties, but as long as his overreaching behavior stayed limited to poop related tasks she wasn’t going to make a fuss.

At the doorway of the bathroom she paused and looked back at Thor. He was tickling her daughter’s feet whilst simultaneously disposing of her soiled diaper, as if the task was old hat to him. 

She felt a brief stab of disgust for her ‘past self’. She understood how depilating depression could be, but she was so disappointed that it had caused her to falter in caring for the child she had longed for so desperately. She always wanted to be a mom. It was why she signed up to let the government match her with some random stranger. So she could have a guaranteed perfectly healthy baby. If she hadn’t been ‘lacking’ in the mom department Frigga and Thor would have never tried to magic her back into a healthy mind set. 

Slipping into the bathroom she set her clothes down on the towel drying rack before moving to the mirror. It was still covered with steam. With an angry hand she wiped it away so she could see her reflection. 

She had dark purple circles under her eyes; her face was pale and looked even more gaunt contrasted with her dark wet hair. She’d thought she’d have time while being pregnant to prepare to be a mom, read all the books, google all the things. Learning how to care for a newborn on the fly, while processing everything that had happened was taking its toll on her. She looked horrendous. Like an insomniac drug addict. She smiled at the mirror to see if a change in her expression altered her appearance…it only helped to make her look like a _deranged_ insomniac drug addict. 

“Sure Darcy,” Darcy jeered quietly to her reflection, as she set to work making herself presentable. “A little make up. A little hair combing and you’ll _totally_ be ready to mingle with the beautiful and godlike elite Asgardians. _Especially_ the 5”10 warrior woman supermodel who was instrumental in saving your life and that of your unborn child. Compared to her I’m sure you won’t look like a genderbend Laurel and Hardy parody.”

She was not looking forward to re-making friends with people who only knew her at her worst. She was still finding her footing amongst the royals and learning the societal basics of Asgard. She didn’t really like the outdoors, but Thor thought getting out and interacting would be good for her. ‘Healthy’ is the word he actually used. 

She only hoped her behavior on today’s outing helped settle Thor and Frigga’s fears about her worthiness as a mother. She got the feeling they were waiting with baited breath for her to fall apart or something. Her social anxiety and body issues aside, she was certain about one thing and determined to prove it.

“I am not permanently damaged goods.” Darcy whispered to her reflection as she forcefully ran a brush through her wet hair. “I am a good person and I can be a good mother.” 

Staring at her reflection she tried very hard to ignore all her flaws and see what made her beautiful. Thinking of Alice’s smile. She tried smiling again. This time her face did transform. It looked happier, healthier. 

“I am a good mom.” She repeated. She nodded at her reflection and banished all negative thoughts from her brain.   
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The day after her memory got erased she learned she’d not come to Asgard with nothing and no one to call her own but for Alice. She also had Chip. And like, one bag. Now, the dog barked happily at her as she approached walking side by side with Thor to the ‘informal’ royal dining room. 

It had been decided by Frigga that the puppy was too much for her to ‘handle’ if she insisted to be the one to care for Alice after her ‘trauma’ and ‘memory tampering’. She had been overwhelmed and in shock from all the revelations when the Queen first purposed the idea and had agreed without really thinking. 

At that point she didn’t remember getting the dog and did not know its personality or temperament. It had seemed like an altruistic overture when Queen Figga herself offered to care for Chip overnight so Darcy could focus all her attentions on her daughter. A week later she had a little perspective and knew everyone better, Chip included. Now she suspected that they just didn’t think her competent enough to care for a puppy and a newborn at the same time. They thought she was weak. 

She stopped and bent down to scratch behind the dog’s ears in greeting. “Hey good boy. Did you miss me? Huh? Did you miss me Chippy?” 

She felt guilty for giving him away so carelessly, but was unsure how to approach the topic of taking him back. From inside the dining room Queen Frigga called out. “Lady Darcy, do not get him riled up whilst you hold little Alice in your arms. He could attack her in his excitement. Dear, you must exercise more caution and consideration with your precious one.” 

Darcy abruptly stood up. She didn’t think the Queen was right about that. She didn’t know much about dog breeds and how they got along with babies, it wasn’t something she’d ever had to think about, but she’d seen enough movies about lifelong human-dog friendship’s to know that dogs weren’t inherently dangerous to babies. Especially when they were raised up _together_. 

She spared Chip an apologetic look before addressing the Queen and trying not to be insulting. “Chip wouldn’t hurt Alice. There’s a reason why he was the only other living creature to be sent to Asgard with me.” 

Thor touched her arm and gestured to his mother. “I am sure my mother means no offense.” He put a hand on her lower back and led her over to the chair.

“The mongrel was sent with you because they knew Loki would kill any other human that accompanied you.” Odin spoke in a commanding way, as if daring anyone to contradict him. “Especially the babe’s father.” She met his eyes as continued. “In fact had you chosen a less fur covered companion, Loki probably would have killed you and the Lady Sif as well.”

She swallowed thickly as she sunk down in to her chair. Without protest she let Thor take Alice from her arms; she’d fed the babe before they left her rooms so there was no need to break out her modesty poncho in front of the ever abrasive King. Thor held Alice close as he moved around the table towards his mother. The older woman dabbed demurely at her lips before scooting her chair back, her eyes lit up with joy as Thor handed the baby off to her. 

The Queen’s face looked even more beautiful than usual as she looked adoringly at Alice. “Good morning little one. Hello. Oh yes, hello little Alice. How are you?” 

The Queen snuggled her face into the baby’s and her daughter gurgled happily. “Hello my tiny darling. Yes, it is Frigga.” The Queen let out a tinkling laugh as Alice grabbed for a tendril of her hair. “Yes my love, I am so happy to see you as well.” 

Darcy’s eyes cut over to Odin. King Odin, in her week’s worth of experience, was a crotchety old man with a big ass ego and a cosmic sized superiority complex. But in these quiet moments where it was just her and Alice and the royal family, she saw another side of him. He glowed with delight as he watched his wife coo over her daughter. 

Thor returned to her side and sat next to her, immediately setting about fixing a plate for himself and for her. There was a smorgasboard worth of food laid out before them and for some reason everyone was always trying to feed her. But Thor knew what foods she liked and didn’t like, so she said nothing about the huge amount of food he piled on her plate. It was too much, but...he smiled at her so brightly. She couldn’t help but smile back. “Thanks.” 

Thor nodded his head and then dug in. And boy, could the man could eat.

Frigga looked up at her husband with twinkling eyes, she lifted Alice’s arm and made her daughter wave at the King. “Say hello to Odin, Alice. Say hello. Good morning.” 

King Odin leaned closer to his wife and the child. He took her daughter’s hand in between his fingertips and shook it lightly. Speaking in the softest voice she suspected he possessed, Odin baby talked to her kid. “Hello tiny child of Midgard. Did you sleep well?” He stared at her intently before nodding his head as if Alice had answered his question. “Yes, tiny one. I sometimes dream of that as well. I am pleased to know you are so content.” 

With a gentle squeeze to her knee, Thor caught her attention. He held a spoon aloft and up to her lips. “You should eat my lady.” He counseled sagely. 

This shit was reaaally getting fucking annoying. Thor offering to fucking spoon feed her was really a step too far. Not saying a word she turned her head away and picked up a large piece of fruit. Stuffing it into her mouth uncouthly she replied, “I am eating.”

She did not know how to tell Thor or his mom or his dad that _at times_ she found them all fucking condescending as hell and it was really starting to piss her off. Not without seeming like an ungrateful bitch anyway. 

But seriously, she wasn’t incompetent. She wasn’t feeble or incapable of caring for herself or her daughter. Or her fucking dog! But it seemed impossible to convince the royal family of that. She understood that before the mind wipe she was in a dark place, but by their own admission she hadn’t done anything to harm herself or her baby. They were just worried she _might._ They had just acted so she _wouldn’t_. It was all a precautionary measure. Not a necessary one.

Erasing part of her memory might have been an accident, but deciding to do something to her mind preemptively wasn’t. And more than hating being challenged by Frigga about every damn thing she did in regards to Alice, or doubted by Thor, or distrusted by Odin, she hated _herself_ for agreeing to go through with the stupid magical-shortcut bullshit in the first place. Grabbing a piece of cantaloupe she reached under the table and fed it to Chip. He happily wagged his tail and licked her fingers when the food was all gone. 

“Do not feed the dog with food from the table.” Frigga nagged just as she was reaching to get Chip a few blueberries. “It is unsanitary and impolite.” 

“It will teach the mongrel that you are to be at his beck and call,” Odin added supportively. “Not the other way around.” 

With a sigh she dropped the blueberries back onto the plate.   
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The same day she re-met Chip was also the day Thor produced the meager belongs she’d brought with her to Asgard. They’d gone through them together in the hopes that something might jog her memory and override the spell that went awry. It hadn’t worked. 

When she’d been evacuated to Asgard, mid-labor, her doting partner _Steve Rogers_ whoever that was, had sent her away with what he called her hospital ‘GO BAG’. 

Inside the bag she found only one item that looked familiar to her one-year-of-her-life-erased eyes. Her old sturdy ipod. The headphones were wound around the device exactly as she remembered. It was still loaded up with all her favorite songs. It was literally the only thing she had, besides Alice that felt in any way or shape familiar. 

The other contents of her GO BAG were less noteworthy. There was a comfy pair of pajamas, underwear, a toiletry bag, a cute maternity outfit, a Starkpad, a book of crossword puzzles half filled in, an adult coloring book and some colored pencils. Along with some baby stuff she’d obviously intended her newborns to have for their trip home from the hospital. 

The Starkpad and ipod were both out of power but Thor said he could get someone to rig something up so she could turn them on and use them. Asgard didn’t have batteries per say but he figured one of the scholars or blacksmith’s could make a power source small enough not to destroy her devices. She appreciated that a lot, especially because she hoped to find some pictures or maybe a video on the Starkpad. Maybe even one from Alice’s father?

It seemed odd that they wouldn’t have packed her cell phone in the bag, but she supposed it was an emergency situation when she was evacuated; details were bound to be overlooked. Also, she was going to another planet. T-mobile coverage was barely reliable nationally, let alone galactic-ly . 

When she asked Thor to tell her more about Steve, he was forthcoming but had precious little to divulge. He told her that Steve was blonde like him, but with shorter hair. He said he was taller than her but shorter than himself. He described his face as stately, which apparently was Asgardian for ‘handsome’. He said he was muscular, but less so _again_ then himself. 

When she asked about his personality, their relationship, their history, the plans they had made for Alice and her other children, Thor faltered. Said the man seemed devoted to her, showed affection for her in every gesture and for the other babies she birthed, but he couldn’t tell her much more. 

Thor had only spent a few short days in their company while back on Earth. And admittedly most of it was spent thinking about himself and his own woes. He told her the gory story of her triplet’s delivery, his own part in it, and elaborated more on how and why Lady Sif was chosen to accompany her back to Asgard when she was in distress/labor. 

He explained about his brother’s attempted coo. And the battle at the Bifrost. He talked a little about what he thought motivated his brother and then he went quiet for a while. She let Thor hold Alice and play with her a bit because he seemed so sad when speaking of Loki. 

It was then and there that she decided that Thor was good people. At that point she’d known him a day and a half, but she could see there was so much good in him. 

It was while Thor relayed how he stopped his brother’s villainous scheme at the cost of Loki’s life and the Bifrost Bridge that she realized that despite what Loki had done Thor still loved his brother; she could hear it in his voice as he reminded her it was only by Loki’s mercy she was alive today. His brother had let her into Asgard whilst mid-takeover, he had nothing to gain by helping her and she couldn’t help but feel a little bit indebted to the probably-dead man. 

It felt like some Shakespearean tragedy come to life. Thor and his brother. Her and her separated family. 

She’d believed in the Citizen’s Duty process from the beginning and was committed to seeing it through. Learning all her dreams had been made reality? That she was rewarded with a partner who loved her and apparently planned to raise _triplets_ with her only to be separated by cruel fate and half the galaxy, it was tragedy personified. 

And if Thor was to be believed that separation was nigh but permanent. 

He’d explained very calmly that to repair the Bifrost Bridge, the wormhole thingy that connected Earth and Midgard, they would need an object of unlimited sustainable energy to fix what he was forced to break. And being cut off from the Nine Realms meant they had no means to find such an object. So really, she was stuck. And so was Thor, in his own way. Stuck with her and the vow he made to keep her safe. 

She could see how easily the events could lead her to spiral into depression and out of control. Hell hearing about everything second hand had her wanting to drown her sorrows, but knowing she was being watched and judged on her ‘mental health’/parenting ability, she held it together. Also, there was Alice. And her love for the baby made her strong, hopefully strong enough to keep calm and carry on as the Brit’s would say.

Still, she understood why her month long bout of despair and melancholy caused Thor and his mom to overreact. They were worried not only for her but for Alice. She did not blame them for trying to intercede in the name of the safety of her child, but that did not mean she agreed with how they responded to said ‘crisis’. 

The Queen had been profusely apologetic about the ‘mistake’ that cost her a year of her life and promised to reverse it, but admitted she had no idea what went wrong. She’d gotten the spell from something her son had been working on or inventing? She wasn’t clear on that, but the point was she’d followed his instructions precisely. It was no one’s fault that the result was far from what had been promised. 

However, a week after the mind-rewind Darcy was no longer battling depression and yet she found herself still fighting. 

Fighting to prove herself sane and capable as a mother. Fighting to control her impulses and not offend her royal and powerful benefactors. And most importantly, fighting to keep the only real friend she had on the planet just because he was currently annoying the crap out of her. 

“Are you sure she’s not too heavy for you?” Thor asked for the third time that morning. They were standing in an archway near the stables, watching the servants scurry about to hook up a fancy wagon to a pair of horses. Chip stood in front of the horses barking incessantly and getting no response from the larger creatures. 

Darcy was holding Alice and had been for fifteen minutes or so while this process went on. She had the child wrapped up in a complex cloth baby carrier strapped to her chest; Frigga had helped her put it on before they left and made a point to call over Thor while she was doing so, so he could help her redo it later. As if she was unable to learn herself. 

Her lack of complaining must have been some kind of signal to Thor that the task of holding her own child and standing at the same time was ‘too much for her’. 

“I’m fine.” She responded in a dull tone. She found it easiest to keep the anger out of her voice if she imitated an emotionless robot. “Beep boop.” 

“What?” Thor said, not getting the joke and making her smile.

“Nothing.” She snickered.   
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When the fancy wagon was ready Thor invited her to sit next to him up front. He was to be the driver, which she was totally fine with. The wagon was a concession in deference to her lack of horse riding ability but Thor looked uneasy atop the wooden seat. In the next sentence he rescinded the invitation. “On second thought, perhaps you should ride in the back with the dog.”

“Okay.” She said cheerlessly. 

The ride to the tavern where the Warrior’s three and Lady Sif and Heimdall were waiting for them was a short one. Thor’s friend’s had been made aware of her memory problem and they all re-introduced themselves to her. 

There was some chit chat about their destination and the best way to get to the lake where they would be picnicking, but then they were off. No one joined her in the back of the wagon. 

The others rode their own horses in front of the wagon, leaving Thor and she out of the friendly conversation just by virtue distance. Darcy felt a little bad when she spotted Thor pouting after Fandral laughed exuberantly at something Sif said, but she held her tongue. She would have offered to sit next to him so they could talk to each other, but felt he would just deny her again. Not that they couldn’t talk to each other as they were. It was just awkward with Thor having to look at her over his shoulder and seeming nervous about being ‘distracted while driving’. He lovingly referred to them as “precious cargo” and inside her pride burned even as her heart melted. 

It was so annoying how much Thor cared about her and Alice. How protective and eager to ‘help’ he was. It was especially irritating because she also loved and appreciated how thoughtful he was. 

So instead of pouting about being excluded like Thor was, she busied herself babbling to Alice and petting Chip. She told her daughter the story of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ the Disney version (to the best of her recollection) while making a toy dance in front of her face. But then her daughter bailed on her, by virtue of passing out on her chest. Leaving Darcy and Thor to ride for over half an hour in uneasy silence over bumpy terrain. 

While Chip barked at ever bird or squirrel in all of Asgard.   
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No one was gladder to reach the secluded lake than Darcy. She practically hurtled her way out of the wagon, clutching the still sleeping Alice tight to her body as she walked a few paces towards the lake just happy to be able to stretch her legs.

“Lady Darcy. Do not wander off without an escort.” Thor called out, as he retrieved Chip from the wagon and set him down on the ground, petting his head before releasing him. 

She bit the inside of her cheek to curb her desire to snap at him. After a second’s delay she replied in a dull tone. “Okay.” 

Volstagg seemed to be the one who packed the most ‘stuff’ for their little daytrip. He had food and cups and pans and a cauldron big enough to cook Alice in! Chip stood at his feet wagging his tail and sniffing everything Volstagg touched as he unleaded his wares. Hogun and Heimdall broke away from the group and headed for the tree line to gather fire wood. While Lady Sif walked a little ways away and began to lay out a large tarp for them to sit and eat on, when she had mentioned bringing a blanket to sit on back at the palace Thor had seemed confused but accommodated her request. She guessed if she wasn’t there they’d have just sat on the ground or whatever.

She watched as Fandral made a beeline for Thor. The dashing man had a bottle of wind in each of his hands. 

“Time at last for us to make merry once again my friend.” He said with a wicked grin. “It has been too long since we have been deigned worthy of more than a few hours of your time.” 

Fandral thrust one of the bottles into Thor’s chest forcing him to take it while he uncorked the other with his mouth and spit into the grass. “Let us drink!”

Guzzling straight from the bottle, Fandral releasing a satisfying sounding ‘ah!’ as he pulled the bottle away. Darcy rolled her eyes at his flamboyancy. 

“Agreed Fandral.” Thor said sounding tired, “It has been too long.” She wondered if even prior to getting her mind erased Thor was all over her and Alice. To the point of ignoring his friends in favor of watching over her?

When Fandral looked over at her she turned away and took a few steps back to the wagon trying to appear like she wasn’t eavesdropping. Thinking she was out of earshot Fandral lowered his voice as he spoke to Thor. “Has the Lady Darcy truly no memory of the past year of her life?” 

“Indeed.” Thor confirmed in a low timber. “It is a fate most tragic and her woes are partly by my and mother’s design. We have taken so much from her; I hope she will find some happiness on this day. I owe her more, but. I feel as if I have failed her and continue to do so.” 

She knew Thor felt bad about everything, but hearing him confesses to his friend…he sounded so sad. Fandral patted him on the back encouragingly. “Do not be so hard on yourself my Prince. Lady Darcy and her youngling are alive because of you. You must remember that. You saved her. And by your grace she continues to live in the lap of luxury.” 

“He cares for you.” A quiet feminine voice said making her jump. 

Lady Sif grinned at the reaction. She hadn’t noticed the woman finish with the tarp and walk around to approach her. 

“Sif.” She said breathily. “Hi.” 

Sif’s eyes darted down to the sleeping child on her chest. “You were thrice blessed Darcy.” Reaching out the woman ran the tip of her finger across Alice’s cheek. 

“I know you still suffer, being separated from those you love even though you no longer remember them,” she removed her finger and met Darcy’s eyes straight on. “I know the Prince can be irksome, but please do not take your anger out on Thor. He has lost a loved one as well. He has devoted himself to you and your child as a means of distraction, if not now a genuine affection. He is clumsy in his ways, but only wishes to make your stay on Asgard as pleasing as possible.” 

“I’m not taking anything out on anyone.” She said defensively. “Least of all Thor.” 

Turning on her heel she headed over to the tarp and plopped down with such force that she woke Alice. And the baby began to cry. She felt like an ass and like she’d been called out by Sif. Looking up she met Sif’s dark eyed gaze. She couldn’t be sure, but she sworn Sif’s eyes were laughing at her. 

Thor rushed over all ready to help with Alice and take over. “Lady Darcy, let me help free you of the wrap. Perhaps I should take Lady Alice for a walk around the lake so you can sit here and relax?” 

She felt like he was implying she was useless. And for the first time she just couldn’t let it go. She dismissed him sternly. “Thor, Alice is _my_ baby and _I’m_ going to take care of her. Babies cry. She’s fine. I’m fine. I’ve got this under control. Go. I don’t need you.” 

She met his eyes to gauge if he was going to argue with her further, that was a mistake. Thor looked so wounded by her harsh rebuff, but he said nothing. She felt like a total bitch as he got up silently and went to help Heimdall and Hogun as the pair returned with the firewood. For a few seconds she watched as the men set to work building a fire, with Volstagg giving bossy directions on how best to set it up for cooking.

When she looked back over to Sif her eyes were no longer laughing. The warrior woman walked past Fandral and stole the drink from his hand. She drank from it deeply before returning the bottle briskly. Darcy’s eyes tracked her as the woman grabbed up a crossbow and left for the woods muttering something about hunting. 

Unaffected by the woman’s sullen demeanor Fandral gave her a jaunty wave as she departed. He seemed content to watch his friends do all the work while he leaned against the wagon, drank and watched. 

Darcy unwound the complicated baby carrier, freeing Alice from being bound to her body. It was a intricate wrap though and took far longer than it would have if she’d accepted Thor’s help. But, once free she settled the baby in her arms rather quickly. 

She wore a jumpsuit with a one shouldered cape attached, it was a perfect modesty shield for when she breastfed and silently thanked Frigga for filling her closet with practical easily baby-boob-accessible clothing. 

Covering the still crying Alice with thin fabric cape, she pulled out her boob and practically shoved it in her babies face. She just wanted Alice to stop crying as quickly as possible. It felt like every second she cried was validating the claim that she was an unfit mother. Her eyes cut over to Thor, he was watching her struggle but made no move to run over and take over. Not that he could, given the fact that it was her boobs which held the milk and all, but she saw the desire to intervene in his eyes. 

It took a little bit before the baby latched on and began to feed, but she did it. And as her child finally stopped crying she felt like she could breathe again. She smiled triumphantly up at Thor and…he smiled back at her proudly. Then Heimdall was asking him to hold a rope and he had to look away. 

Whispering down to Alice Darcy said. “We can do this baby girl. You and me are going to be just fine. I promise.” 

She let her gaze wander around the site they had chosen to make camp. It was truly picturesque. A blue sky cloudless sky hung overhead, she could hear birds singing in the distance, it wasn’t too warm or too cold, the light glistened off the water like diamonds as the sun was high and shining brightly. It was a peaceful spot. Quiet and calm and away from everything that felt alien and unfamiliar to her. 

Throwing her head back Darcy basked in the warmth of the sun and just enjoyed the moment. It was her first time feeding her baby without assistance or coaching or Thor or his mom giving her tips. She felt so accomplished. Thor was right. Ever since she got to Asgard, well for the last week she could remember of it anyway, she’d been a ball of tension. 

Walking on eggshells around the royal butt-in-skis, wrapping her head around being a mom, being separated from her other children, forgetting her lover, being on an alien world and at the mercy of Thor and Frigga’s affection for her and her daughter. It was a lot of stress to deal with in just one week. 

Maybe a day at the lake was just what she needed to feel like herself again. And at the very least she might get a little tan!

When Alice drained her breast and had to be switched over to the other one, she saw she’d caught someone’s attention in her periphery. Darcy tried not to blush as Fandral’s eyes tracked her every movement with a lascivious slack jawed stare.   
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After Alice finished feeding, Thor brought over the little travel sized bassinet they’d packed. She didn’t feel the need to snap at him that she was just as capable of getting it from the wagon herself. Instead, she smiled her thanks and put the full and just-finished-being-burped-baby inside. 

On the other side of the bassinet Thor sat down on the tarp with her. He watched as she rocked Alice to sleep. They were quiet, just watching Alice try to keep her eyes open, fighting to stay awake, but ultimately losing the battle. Sometimes she felt like she could stare at her sleeping daughter’s face forever. 

The travel bassinet was shaped like a boat and as such had a sail. Thor took the mast and bent the pole the flag rested on, easily moving the sail to act as a sun shield for the sleeping baby. She hadn’t known that was possible. “Thank you.” She said quietly. 

Thor grunted a response. “’Tis nothing.” 

“No.” She said pointedly, “Thank you. For everything. And. Um, sorry for being snippy with you earlier.” 

“You have nothing to apologize for, my Lady.” That was blatantly not true, and she wanted to argue the point, but she didn’t want to fight. So she changed the subject instead. 

“Soooo. You told me to bring a bathing suit. Frigga loaned me a real pretty one. Does that mean we’re going swimming? Or are Asgardians just really into sun bathing?”

Thor looked pleased. “You told me you enjoy the water. I thought you might enjoy a swim, but if you prefer to bath..in the sun?”

She laughed as he questioned her turn of phrase. “Did I warn you I’m like half mermaid? I mean, I will literally have to be dragged out of the water I love it so much.” 

She felt a sense of pride for putting the light in his eyes as he laughed at her. “Half mermaid?” He questioned with a joyful grin. “Perhaps you will sing to little Alice later and prove to be a siren instead.”   
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When Sif returned with a deer slung over her shoulders everyone went to greet her, but Darcy knew the revulsion on her face had to be showing because Sif’s eyes were laughing at her again. Volstagg shooed everyone away claiming he was going to whip up a culinary masterpiece. 

“You know eating everything in sight does not make you adept at cooking, my friend?” Fandral teased. Volstagg ignored him and set to butchering the deer. When the first slice of his blade set all sorts of guts and intestine’s spilling forth she made a retching sound. 

She did a quick about face mumbling, “I can’t watch. I’m gonna hurl.” In a louder voice she called to her dog. “Chip!” 

With a sharp bark he scampered over to her and she scooped him up in her arms, cuddling him to her chest, protecting him from Volstagg and his animal slaughtering ways. Never mind that it was actually Sif that felled the animal. 

“Perhaps we should go into the water then?” Thor said, moving to stand at her back, further obscuring her view of the animal dismemberment. 

“I thought she ate meat?” Fandral whispered to Hogun.

Her eyes drifted down to the still snoozing Alice. “What about the baby?” She looked over at Thor and said, “Volstagg obviously isn’t going swimming, what with all his fun with the animal innards. But he can’t watch her and do…that. Right?”

“I will stay behind and watch over the tiny one.” Heimdall offered. He smiled at her with his bright white teeth and somehow she felt assured Alice would be fine. “Leave her in my care Lady Darcy and no harm shall come to the babe.” 

With a nod she agreed.   
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She was grateful when Sif gravitated back over to her, but at the same time not. She knew very little about the woman warrior, but after annoying her earlier she hoped she could correct her mistake and make the woman her friend. They disrobed together and left their clothes in a pile side by side. 

“You know how to swim Lady Darcy?” The woman inquired.

“Very well.” She assured her. Darcy’s eyes roved up the woman’s form as more and more skin was revealed. Sif was built like Xena the Warrior Princess, but skinner. The woman was toned, tan, and well muscled. 

Looking down at her own body she wrapped her arms around her midsection. ‘Waking up’ on a different planet with a very different body than the one she remembered had been one of the major things that sucked about getting a year’s worth of memories stolen. She was lumpy and fat and didn’t even get to slowly gradually build up to it. It was like an abrupt transformation and for the worse and she couldn’t deny being self conscious about it. 

Ahead of her, a half naked Fandral and Hogun raced into the water. There was a small wooden dock and the men ran jostling each other trying to be first one to dive into the water. With a glance back at Sif and her slim perfect body, Darcy followed their example. 

“Darcy be careful!” Thor called out, but she was already in the air. She jumped up high and drew her legs in close to her body, wrapping her arms around them for an epic cannonball. It was awesome, Fandral and Hogun surfaced just in time for her to splash them in face as she plunged into the water. 

She came up smiling. 

“Well done Lady Darcy.” Fandral complimented. 

“I love the water.” She sighed as she swam over to them. A large splash behind her signaled Thor’s entrance into the lake and she swirled in a circle looking for him. The water was murky and dark, but cool and refreshing. Still…

“There are no Loch Ness monster’s in here right guys? Or piranha?” She peered down at her body under the water and couldn’t even see her own toes. Asking about sea monsters and scary, scary, fish was something she probably should have asked about before diving in. 

“What is a loch ness?” Fandral asked. Thor surfaced right next to her, surprising her into letting out a short, “Ah!”

“Have no fear, my Lady.” Thor grinned at her reaction. “It is just me.” 

She splashed him lightly in the face muttering, “Monster.” 

“This lake runs very deep.” Hogun said, answering her earlier question. “There are fish, eels, snakes, turtles, frogs. Other things. Many animals reside in the water Lady Darcy. But none I would classify as monsters.” 

“Well none we know of.” Fandral added with a mischievous grin. A small splash back at the dock signaled Sif’s entrance into water. Darcy turned to see the woman smoothing slicing through the water at a fast clip. 

When she joined them she immediately jumped onto Thor’s back and dunked him into the water. Thor took the act in stride, laughing as he surfaced spitting water in a high arc like a fountain figurine. Sif grabbed her wrist and tugged.

“Come Lady Darcy.” The woman said as she swam and pulled her along. “Let us play a game of hide and seek.” She splashed at Thor with her foot. “Thor will be it and we shall all hide.” 

“Close your eyes!” Fandral shouted as he started swimming away.

“No cheating.” Sif yelled. Hogun stared at Thor’s face and comically, oh so slowly, descended straight down into the water, before changing direction sloppily and swimming under the surface and away. 

“Shall I count to ten or one hundred?” Thor called out as he gamely covered his eyes. 

“One hundred?!” Darcy screeched. “I don’t have the patience for that!” 

“Fifty then?” He hollered. She and Sif had put a fair amount of distance between them now. 

“Thirty!” Sif yelled back. In a normal tone of voice she spoke to Darcy. “You go left, I’ll go right.” And with that directive the woman dived under the water.

“One. Two. Three...” She heard Thor began to count out loud and saw Fandral hiding among some reeds near the shore. Hogun had somehow doubled backed to hide under the dock and Sif…Sif seemed intent on swimming across the entire damn lake.

Darcy decided to take another approach to the game. Kicking her feet up she extended her arms and positioned herself horizontally so she could float on her back. ‘Cause really, hiding in plain sight was as good a plan as any. 

Staring at the sky she was able to pretend she was back home, on Earth. 

Asgard was beautiful and the people were nice enough and everything, but most of the time she felt like she didn’t belong there and everyone knew it. She doubted that feeling would ever go away. Knowing that the Bifrost Bridge was permanently broken until further notice always gave her a bit of a stomach ache. 

She missed it. Home. Earth. Midgard. She missed a lot of things about it, but mostly the internet. And, TV. Going grocery shopping. Getting the mail. Driving. Wearing clear gel deodorant. Google! It felt a little sad that the things she missed the most were all the shallow surface trappings bullshit. Especially considering she had a man and two babies that she left behind…but she didn’t know them. Not anymore.

She knew the wonders of Netflix though. And Coco Puffs. Here on Asgard everything was natural beauty or ostentatious gold/old timey stuff and science so advanced it was like magic! It was all so spectacular, but _foreign_. She never even traveled outside of the US before, but now? She was a space explorer! A stranger in a strange land. And the struggle to find her voice and her place on Asgard was constant.

But at that moment. Right then. Floating on her back in the middle of a calm lake on a nice day. She felt like given enough time, Asgard could feel like home. The people around her, they could be her friends. Maybe even her family. She knew that Frigga never intended to erase her memories, but wondered if it wasn’t for the best. After all she couldn’t miss what she didn’t know. At least, not enough to drive her crazy.

Something tickled her foot, startling her and breaking her concentration. With a shriek she sank into the water flailing her arms as she fell out of her floating position. She broke the surface sputtering and coughing up water. Within seconds strong arms were wrapped around her and Thor was bellowing, “Got you!” 

“Dammit.” Darcy pouted flatly. Thor laughed at her tone and then he was gathering her up in his arms. 

“What are you doing?” 

“I’ve caught you.” Thor explained as he used his massive arms to lift her out of the water nearly over his head. “It means I get to throw you.” 

“What!?” 

He threw her and she screamed and she could hear the others laughing at her right before she hit the water. Again she surfaced squawking and sputtering water. With indignation she screeched. “Not fair buddy!” 

“Did you see the way she flapped her arms?” Sif taunted from across the lake. That reminded her that Thor was supposed to have his eyes closed. 

She pointed at him accusingly. “Hey! You cheated! You’re look—AH!” Something slimy touched her foot. 

“Darcy?” Thor swam to her. “What is it?”

“Something touched my foot!” She swam towards Thor as fast as she could. “I think it was a snake!” 

“Really?” Thor paused mid-stroke, a youthful smile breaking out across his face. “I love snakes.” 

“Why, you weirdo?” She asked as she reached him and wrapped her arms around his naked shoulders. Thor’s strong arm moved to wrap around her waist and she felt instantly comforted by his closeness. She was certain that as big and strong as he was he would totally protect her from the snake.

“Weird? You know what is weird? Snake’s smell with their tongues.” Thor informed her. “They hibernate in large groups for warmth. They do not have eyelids. And some sea snakes can breathe partially through their skin, allowing for longer dives underwater.” He gave her a superior look. “Snakes are very fascinating creatures. You should not be so judgmental.” 

Something smooth brushed against her calf and then something sharp grazed her heel. She shook her foot, inadvertently kicking Thor as she screamed. “It’s touching me!” 

“I do not see anything.” Thor said nonchalantly as he looked down into the water all around them. Beyond him she looked to see where the others were. Fandral, Hogun, and Sif had all abandoned the game, probably when she started yelling. They were swimming towards her and Thor with haste. 

He gave her a reassuring smile and put his hand flat on her back. “Perhaps you are just tired and imagining things? We should get out of the water and--”

Something slimy wrapped around her ankle and yanked on her hard. She didn’t get to hear the rest of what Thor was saying as she was pulled straight down and out of his arms, under the water. She didn’t even get to scream. 

She held her breath as she was dragged down, down, down. The temperature of the water grew colder and colder as she made her descent. She was freaking out, but tried desperately not to panic. Panicking would use up more air. Or was that only true on submarines? 

Alice. She thought of her newborn as she reached down to her leg and tried to free herself from whatever it was that had hold of her. She clawed at the slimy appendage with her nails, but the creature didn’t even re-grip. She needed something sharper. A knife or…Darcy grabbed her boobs. 

The bathing she wore was an ostentatious loaner from Queen Frigga or maybe the woman had it commissioned specifically for her. It didn’t matter what mattered was it had heavy jewels sown all over the front of it. 

Pulling and twisting she ripped one diamond free from the suit and bent down to saw at the slimy thing on her leg. She dragged the sharp edge of the diamond into the squishy flesh around her ankle and dragged it back and forth, back and forth. Knowing time was running out, she started stabbing at the thing blindly. 

It took almost all her strength, but eventually the slimy thing let go. 

_It let her go!_ She had a chance to live! She wanted to cry in happiness but she there was no time. She shivered as she thrashed for air. She couldn’t breathe. She had to swim. She was suffocating. She flapped her arms and kicked her legs, but---she needed air. She couldn’t---she opened her mouth looking for oxygen, but water flooded inside instead.

Drowning, she was drowning.

In seconds blackness took over her mind and she was unconscious.  
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She came to flat on her back. The wooden dock was warm and solid under her. And then she was being turned onto her side so she could vomit up lake water. A strong hand patted her on the back and encouraged, “Let it out. Get it all out my Lady.” 

As she coughed free of the water that had drowned her, something wet and slimy and long was slapped onto the wood beside her. She flinched back and nearly fell back into the water, but Thor’s strong hands caught her. 

“It is dead.” Sif announced as she pulled herself up and out of the water. There was a dagger in her hand and a welt around her wrist. Looking down at her own leg she found a matching mark. Sif had saved her.

“What the hell is it?” Upon closer inspection it looked like a mutant baby octopus, but with tentacles so long they belonged in a Jules Verne novel. She squinted at the slab of dead flesh looking for suckers, but there were none. So maybe it wasn’t an octopus? 

“I do not know.” Sif admitted breathlessly.

“But it is not a snake.” Thor said sagely. 

“Snaketapus!” Darcy cried, naming the creature with gusto.

“Um..friends…” Fandral said sounding shaken, looking up she found him and Hogun standing on the grass with weapons in hand. Their eyes were trained on something in the water behind them. 

Both men looked alarmed but it was Hogun who called out. “The danger has not passed!” 

With dread, Darcy turned to look at what they were staring at. Rising out of the water behind them was a gigantic Octopus-Snake-thing. It looked like a giant version of the one that lay dead on the dock next to her. It had a round light bulb shaped head with big cloudy bulging eyes that were as large as her head. On the sides of its face were flesh flaps that resembled a cobra snake’s trademark hood. But what was most alarming were the tentacles attached to the creatures body, they were so long and menacing. And reaching for her!

“Hide the child!” She heard Volstagg shout as he ran to join his fellow warriors, a large frying pan in one hand a long pointy sword in the other. 

“RUN!” Thor bellowed, but didn’t even allow her to follow his order. He picked her up around her middle and ran with her. Sif sprinted ahead easily outpacing them. They had almost reached the end of the dock; the grass of the meadow was inches away, when Thor fell. And she slammed face first into the ground under his weight. 

“GO!” He roared as something pulled him back and away from her. She scrambled forward on her hands and knees racing for the safety of land. Fandral and Hogun leaped over her with a battle cry attacking the tentacle with their weapons. 

Once she was on the solid ground Darcy got to her feet and ran.

Heimdall was near the edge of the woods but he was running back towards them. She ran to meet him. “Where’s Alice!?” She demanded as he bypassed her and kept running to join the battle.

“She’s safe!” He yelled over his shoulder. “Hide!” 

With a yell Thor went flying over her head landing in a heap in the middle of the field. She ran to him as fast as she could. But, she was fat now and honestly was never all that in shape in the first place, so it took a little while and she was winded when she reached him. 

“Thor!” She gasped. “Are you okay?” 

He was stiff as a board and face down in the dirt, she heard him say something, but it was muffled by the ground. With a grunt she managed to push his body so he was laying on his back. There was a big circular red mark around his torso and in the center a bloody hole the size of an M&M. “Oh god! Did she implant her eggs in your stomach?!” 

With a clenched jaw Thor struggled to speak. It looked like he had had a stroke. “D-arcy. It has venom t-hat immobilizes its prey. R-un home. Get Odin.” 

“But if I leave it’ll kill you all!” She cried, looking over her shoulder she saw the creature being beaten back by Volstagg and Heimdall alone. Sif and Fandral were now held aloft in the creature’s tentacles being shaken about wildly. Hogun was nowhere to be seen. 

“S-tay.” Thor croaked. “And you die too.” 

“I won’t leave.” She said to him quietly. “I’ll think of something.” She promised.

“No!” He gasped, “Think of ALICE!” He could do nothing but yell as she got to her feet and ran back to the wagon. She was thinking of Alice, Heimdall said she was safe, she had to trust that. She had to help. Inside the wagon there was nothing useful. 

“Fuck.” She cursed herself, she’d ridden in the wagon all the way there, and she should have known there was nothing useful inside. One of the horses ran past her a torn rein flapping in the breeze as he made it’s escape. Her eyes went to the other four horses that were still tied securely to a tree in the middle of their camp. They were neighing and pulling and trying to escape the bonds that kept them trapped within the reach of the terrifying sea creature. 

And then she realized the horses had reason to be afraid. They were trying to escape not out of fear, but necessity. One of the tentacles wrapped itself around Sif’s white horse, winding the creature up tightly, breaking it’s bones as it coiled tighter and tighter. The tentacle’s were so long that even on land they weren’t safe from it. 

The last winnie the horse let out before it died would haunt her forever. 

She’d never felt such fear as she watched the tentacle retract, pulling its prey closer and closer back to the creature’s body and the water. When the monster lifted the horse in the air over its head, then lifted itself a bit showing it’s underbelly her eyes were drawn directly to its mouth. She let out a strangled scream. 

She couldn’t look away as the creature ate the horse. Its mouth was nothing like the octopuses or giant squids back on Earth. The creature was so much worse. It had like ten rows of razor sharp teeth. And it ate the horse in delicate little bites. Savoring it’s meal.

Volstagg must have thought it his best chance to fell the creature while it was distracted by its meal. He let out a rousing war cry and threw his sword like he was Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty. Straight and true the weapon flew forward and hit its mark precisely. Directly stabbing into the creatures mouth.

The Snaketpus let out a scream that was almost human like and Darcy clapped her hands over her ears. It was piercing and her ear drums shook. The tentacles that held Sif and Fandral suddenly plunged into the water, drowning them. Five tentacles slithered along the ground searching, reaching, for Volstagg. 

She looked around for Heimdall, for help, but he was missing. The field was empty save for her, the remaining tied up horses, the wagon, and Thor who could not be seen because he lay immobilized flat on the ground. She didn’t know what to do or how to help, so she just..watched. 

“Odin’s beard!” The warrior exclaimed as the creature coughed up the sword and part of the horse’s head. Then the creature threw the half eaten horse in Volstagg’s direction. And just as the warrior’s aim was true with the throw of his sword, so was the monsters. But with the horse.

Volstagg was knocked down like a pin at a bowling alley. Trapped under the horse’s weight he struggled briefly to free himself before it was too late. The tentacles were on him. They wrapped around him as they had the others and pulled him back toward the water. To be eaten or tormented, she didn’t know. 

Seemingly in victory the creature lifted its other tentacles, finally letting Sif and Fandral up for air. The pair gasped drinking in the air greedily. Darcy could only watch in horror as the creature took pleasure in dunking Volstagg into the water, playing with the food which had caused him pain moments before. 

“CROSSBOW!” Sif yelled. Her eyes went to the woman who was waving at her frantically with one hand. It seemed absurd to Darcy, but she could swear that in her other hand Sif still held the small knife from earlier. And if she wasn’t mistaken, the mad woman was hacking away at the tentacle that held her captive. Only her knife was so small and the tentacle so large, that it was almost pointless. 

“DARCY!” Sif bellowed. “CROSSBO--” Meanly the creature dunked all three of them back into the water, she wondered how intelligent the Snaketpus was. Did it know they need air? Or was this just how it normally behaved? 

When it lifted them in the air and started banging them into each other, Darcy was finally galvanized into moving. And convinced that the Snaketpus was a dick!

She was the only one still free and not immobilized by venom. Sif gave her a purpose. She was very doubtful that she would be able to help in meaningful way or save the day, but because she was an emotional idiot she was going to try anyway. 

She ran over to the deer carcass and didn’t even flinch at the sight. Her eyes zeroed in on the crossbow. There were three arrows attached to the weapon for reloading and one in the chamber ready to be loosed. 

“This is a terrible plan.” She said as she picked up the weapon and started fiddling with it trying to figure out how it worked. With a ‘pheew’ she accidently shot an arrow into the dead deer body. She quipped to herself, trying to keep things light like they do in action movies. “Well, at least I didn’t shoot myself in the foot.”

Grabbing up the arrow up she tried to figure out how to reload it. In the distance she could hear Sif calling her name, but Darcy had to ignored her. She had to focus on the task at hand. 

When the arrow finally fell back into place she cheered quietly. “Got it.” 

She had no time to savor her minor victory. Something slimy and strong wrapped around her leg at the knee and yanked her hard into the floor. “Ah!” 

It wrapped around her leg from her knee to her ankle, tightening and tightening until she thought her bones would break. And then it started dragging her. “AHHH!”

She screamed as she was violently pulled along the ground almost intentionally slammed into all the little rocks and twigs hidden in the grass. It burned and scratched and bumped as she went along. Then she felt the wood of the dock underneath her, splinters galore stabbed into her skin. 

Then she was being lifted up. Up, up, up. She was dangled upside down above the water, above the creature. And she let out a shriek. “OH GOD!” She was in the perfect position to see its mouth all of the sharp and bloody rows of teeth.

Somehow though, through it all, she kept hold of the crossbow. However she felt no pride in that act. In her hands the crossbow was sure to be all but useless. Shooting the Snaketpus from the ground was one thing, there was no way she could shoot the thing upside down while being toyed with. 

Another of the creatures tentacles ran across her body in an exploratory manner and she squealed like a pig. It was the grossest thing. EVER.

“SHOOT IT!” Sif screamed right before being dunked into the water again. Upside down, holding an unfamiliar weapon, with absolutely no skills whatsoever, Darcy took aim and did as she was told. She shot the crossbow. 

The arrow went so wide it didn’t even graze the creature or its many tentacles. It sailed through the air unimpeded and landed in the water without so much as a splash. “Yeah. We’re gonna die.” 

The creature was feeling her up, pawing at her bathing suit almost trying to tear it off her, but she tried to ignore that as she pulled one of the extra arrows free and reloaded the weapon. A sharp pain bloomed in her upper thigh causing her to cry out. “OW! What the fuck?!” 

Looking down she watched as a small stinger retracted from the end of one of the tentacles wrapped around her body and her leg. A hole was left behind like the one she saw on Thor. “Fuck.” 

“THROW IT TO ME!” Sif demanded. 

Looking at Fandral who was closer to her than Sif she found that the man was unconscious. Her eyes skittered over to Volstagg and found him much the same. 

From the great height of being dangled over the creature’s mouth, her eyes quickly took in the field where she knew Thor to be lying immobilized and in that sweeping glance she saw the bodies of Hogun and Heimdall sprawled out on opposite sides of the field as well. 

Tauntingly slowly she was being lowered down into the creature’s mouth; the Snaketpus’s flair for the dramatic gave her time to pray that it would be satiated with only eating her and the others in its grasp. And with a bit of luck forget about those it had incapacitated and left out in the field. That one thought brought her comfort, if Thor lived she was positive he would take good care of Alice. Love her. Keep her safe. She had no doubt about it. _If he lived…_

Darcy and the warrior woman were the only two of the group mobile and conscious, but she was soon to be incapacitated as well. Not to mention eaten. She felt hopeless as she faced down her certain doom. She quipped one last time as the creature brought them eye to eye for one brief moment, seemingly to gloat. “Well, I can honestly say I never expected it to end like this.” 

“THE CROSS BOW!” Sif yelled. She didn’t have her knife in her hands anymore. They were both outstretched beseechingly towards Darcy. Sif was closer to her than before. And now Darcy was even closer to the creatures mouth. The teeth below gnashed in anticipation. 

“NOW!” Sif demanded. 

Darcy didn’t think she’d be able throw the weapon far enough. Or in the right direction. Or that Sif would somehow catch it. And shoot the creature in its most vulnerable place (it’s eye) causing it to momentarily stop focusing on Darcy in favor of lashing out at Sif. 

She didn’t think Sif could reload the weapon while being thrown around like a lasso. She didn’t think Sif could shoot the creature and hit her target. Again. And then do it quickly, one more time, finally felling the creature for good. 

But that is exactly what happened. 

“YES!” Sif cried out in victory as the creature released them all. 

“No.” Darcy whispered as she felt her limbs tingle as they grew numb, just as she was dropped back into the murky water.  
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It was a struggle, but somehow Darcy managed to get to the shore while only being able to move half of her body. Specifically the upper half. 

Her arms burned as they worked double time to move her to safety, the dead weight of her lower half felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, but she doggy paddled her way to the steep edge of the lake. She was unable to pull herself up and out of the water, but she wrapped her arm around a growing root, planting herself securely. It was gross. 

She was covered in mud and slime and now there were bugs crawling and flying all over her, but she was confident she’d arranged herself so that if she lost control of the rest of her body, she would not drown. 

“DARCY?” Sif cried out searchingly.

“GET FANDRAL!” She shouted back. Volstagg had somehow landed on his back and was floating along the water’s surface looking weirdly serene. Fandral however, was face down. 

“He’s drowning!” She warned. 

With the kind of strength Darcy knew she would never possess, Sif swam over to Fandral and flipped him onto his back. Then she swam to the dock. Darcy had a perfect view to watch as Sif pulled herself up onto the wooden surface without letting Fandral sink back into the water, before turning to pull him up onto the dock too. 

With bated breath she watched as Sif lowered her mouth to Fandral’s and breathed. Once. Twice. Three. Four. Five times. Pulling back she pumped methodically on his chest. Darcy counting, Sif pressed onto his chest twenty-nine times and on the thirtieth, Fandral responded. 

With a gurgle the man spit up water and Sif rushed to turn him onto his side and thump him heartily on the back. “Breathe Fandral. Breathe.” 

“Wh-ah-. What did ah miss?” Fandral sputtered.

“Later.” Sif said, as she stood and took a deep breath before diving back into the water. She swam confidently towards Volstagg and pulled the heavy man much more slowly to the dock. Once there she repeated the process, only this time with Fandral’s help. 

It was a struggle due to the large man’s size, but they managed to get him out of the water and onto the dock. Sif moved to give him a rescue breath as she had done for Fandral, but the man stopped her. “Wait.” 

“Fandral this is no time to play games.” Sif chastised. 

“No. Really, wait.” Fandral lowered his head to press his ear to the larger man’s chest. With a scowl he pulled back and yelled at his friend. “You’re sleeping?!” 

He slapped Volstagg’s face and shook him roughly by the shoulders, telling Sif, “He’s snoring!” His shouting and shaking finally roused his friend awake.

“Where’s the beast?” Volstagg asked with his eyes wide and searching the water. 

“I slew it.” Sif informed him tersely, but Darcy wasn’t sure that was true. She had had watched as the Snaketpus slunk back down into the water after Sif’s last shot, disappearing into the murky depths. She saw it happen and still wasn’t sure if the creature was truly dead or just retreating to lick it’s wounds and regroup. She prayed for the latter. “Someone had to save us while you were all imitating useless ragdolls.” 

“And you slept thought it!” Fandral accused.

Volstagg sat up whining with a grumpy look on his face. “You know when I’m knocked unconscious I sometimes slip into sleep. It is a condition I have no control over!” 

“You were snoring!” Fandral declared as he ran hand through his hair and got to his feet. Now he was looking around searchingly. “But you bring up a good point, where is the beast?” 

“It sank back into the water.” Sif said. When she didn’t immediately get up to dive back into the water Darcy grew a little disgruntled. 

“Hey Sif?!” Darcy yelled reminding the woman of her existence. 

“Odin’s beard! I completely forgot about the girl!” Volstagg exclaimed. 

“Darcy?” Sif called out searching with her eyes trying to locate her by the sound of her voice.

“The guys are fine. Now save me!”   
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After Fandral and Sif pulled her out of the water, they brought her to lie next to Thor while Volstagg went to Heimdall’s side to find out where he’d hidden Alice. Sif and Fandral then went to drag Heimdall over to them, but he was across the field and they were tired so it would take a little while. 

Like the other’s who’d been stabbed by the creature’s secret venomous tentacle-fang, she could now only move her eyes and mouth. Which sucked, because she really wanted to hold Thor’s hand. To feel his warm skin against her own and have proof that he was alive, and so was she. 

“You did not run.” Thor said to her quietly.

“I didn’t run.” She confirmed just as softly.

“That was stupid.” 

“Yeah, it really was.” 

“But you survived.” Thor said a hint of pride in his tone.

“I would even go so far as to brag that I helped killed the Snaketpus.” Darcy informed him with a grin she knew he couldn’t see. 

“I am sorry.” He apologized sounding sincere. 

“For what? Planning the worst day trip known to all man and alien kind?” It wasn’t his fault that the day had gone to hell, so she added. “It’s cool though Thor. I know you never meant for any of this to happen.” 

“No, not that.” He said, “I mean yes, I did not intend for us to be set up by such a fierce some beast. But no, that is not what I am apologizing for.” 

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Darcy said echoing his words from earlier.

“I..I have been hovering. Following your every step, invading your privacy. Offering help when I knew it was not wanted. And for that, I am sorry.” 

“Oh.” She was truly surprised to hear him take ownership of his overbearing behavior. “Thank you.” 

“In truth I must confess that I did not trust that the spell would remain and your memories truly erased. When I told you, you were trapped on Asgard I watched your heart break. I could not stop it or help you. I could not save you from falling into a despair so great and all consuming that I was worried you would do harm to yourself, or worse.” 

“To Alice.” She supplied as she blinked. Her eyes were growing wet and she couldn’t do a damn thing to wipe away her own tears. “You thought I would kill myself and Alice. That’s why you won’t leave me alone? Even now? That’s why you and your mom still don’t trust me.”

“Yes.” He said sounding remorseful. Crying while she was incapable of moving, sucked. Sniffing back snot Darcy pressed her lips together to try to smother any embarrassing noises trying to escape. 

“But no more.” Thor said, surprising her again. 

“What?” 

“No more.” Thor repeated. “You are…I trust you. I trust that you want to live. I should have trusted you even when you remembered all that you have lost. We should not have interfered with your mind. Look, look what havoc our tampering has wrought!”

She sniffed in amusement. “Dude, I don’t think the giant sea monster tried to eat us because you didn’t trust me enough. I mean, I’m pretty sure it was after this stupid bathing suit.” 

Fandral let out a laugh, overhearing the tail end of the exchange as he and Sif dragged Heimdall’s stiff body to lay next to them. With a tired sigh, Sif wiped at her brow and muttered under her breath. “One more.” 

She and Fandral left to collect Hogun without another word. Darcy suspected Sif was close to collapsing and she admired the woman for the stamina and strength she’d shown thus far. 

Quietly she decided she and Thor would circle back to their conversation later, when they could move. “Hi Heimdall.” She greeted the man in a weary tone. “You okay? Ya know, beside the whole paralyzed body thing.” 

“I have an itch on my nose.” He informed them morosely. “Sif scratched it for me earlier, but as soon as they left it started itching again.” 

Darcy barked out a laugh and felt better for it. “But we’re alive.” She informed him in a cheerful voice. 

“Yes. We’re alive.” Heimdall agreed flatly. “But my nose still itches.”   
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Chips happy barking proceeded Volstagg’s return from retrieving Alice from the woods. She called out to him before he was even in eyessight. “ALICE ?!” 

“She’s fine!” The man shouted back sounding not so close. “Not a scratch on her!” 

Chip reached them before he did. The excited puppy put its paws on her chest and barked into her face. “Hi Chip.” She responded without enthusiasm. She was feeling drained and all she wanted was to see for herself that Alice was okay and then she wanted to pass out for a long nap. 

Her dog licked her face and making her wince and playfully complain. “Help! I’m being attacked by adorableness!” 

“Scat mongrel.” Volstagg chastised as he grew close enough to push Chip away from her with his foot. Chip yapped unhappily at him and remained close to Darcy’s face, growling a little as Volstagg sat down and moved Alice into Darcy’s eye line. 

“My baby!” She cried out, tears once again springing to her eyes. “She’s okay? Really, really okay? It didn’t get her? Still got all her fingers and toes intact and stuff?” 

“Aye lass. She’s perfect.” Volstagg said kindly as he moved to cradle the fussy baby back into his arms more comfortably. He nudged Chip with his foot again as he explained, “Heimdall dumped the water out of the cauldron, and hid the babe inside it at the edge of the woods. Left this savage beast standing guard over her.”

Chip barked as if he knew they were talking about him. “Good boy Chippy.” She said in a tight voice. “Very good boy.” She was crying steadily now, the tears leaked out of the edges of her eyes and slid down her face. 

Sensing her distress Chip barked once before licking at her cheeks. Wiping away her tears with his tongue. It served to make her heart love the tiny puppy that much more and, it tickled! Making her laugh even as she cried tears of exhaustion and happiness. 

“Darcy?” Thor questioned a hint of concern in his voice.

“I’m okay.” Darcy tried to explain how she was feeling, but couldn’t. So she repeated herself. “I’m okay.” 

Sif and Fandral arrived then, dragging Hogun, positioning him next to Heimdall. Fandral looked winded but Sif actually collapsed next to Hogun on the ground. “Alright.” She said breathlessly, “I need a break.” 

“If anyone’s earned it, it’s you Sif.” Darcy said. Then she was laughing because Chip was licking her ears. 

“Blawblabla.” Alice babbled happily. And for a full minute everyone just lay there and breathed. Relieved. 

Thor broke the silence when out of the blue he began to chuckle.

“And what are you laughing at sir?” She questioned. 

“We’re alive.” He said with another laugh. 

“You’re right. That is _hilarious._ ” Hogun said in a flat voice. 

His tone, his delivery, the fact that it was Hogun who made the joke. Everyone lost it and began to laugh. It was a release and one they needed after the afternoon they’d experienced.   
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Alice’s Crib back at the Palace (which after this chapter I am sure will change!)  


Darcy’s outfit for the Daytrip  


Darcy’s bathing suit (yes I drew on the straps with paint, there’s no way Darcy would wear a strapless with her chest size also picture jewels as more diamond-y shaped for better sea monster stabbing)  


Travel bassinet   


The wagon Inspiration  


“GO BAG” Toys Darcy intended put in ‘just born’ photo of each of the triplets (current Darcy doesn’t remember this though)  


Octopus Gif that I just think is Cool (also! Been watching a lot of OctoLab on youtube which kind of inspired how smart and terrifying a Snaketpus could be !also, 20,000 leagues under the sea Disney movie re-watch helped too)  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I as going to give Darcy powers in this story, she would have been the one to kill the monster. But in this story I'm determined to keep her HUMAN and even though I've introduced magical shenanigans, I hope you are all cool with that.
> 
> Please let me know what you thought of the chapter or where you think I'm going with the story. Cuz I'm really excited about what's coming up next!


	3. Chapter 3 –Fulfillment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy gets a job.

Chapter 3 –Fulfillment 

Darcy was aware she was sometimes equal parts difficult and ridiculous; she also knew she was perhaps being hasty and short sided with her current course of action, but she’d committed to it and truly believed it was for the best of all involved. “Dude, seriously? I don’t want to hear it anymore. I need to move out of the palace. It’s time.”

“Darcy, please listen to me. Be reasonable! You have no need to seek another dwelling. You are most welcome to stay in the palace until we find a way to send you home.” Thor said, just a hint of exasperation in his voice. “As I’ve told you many times before, you and Alice are the royal family’s responsibility for the duration of your stay on Asgard. It was my actions in destroying the Bifrost which left you stranded here. Allowing you to live with us is the least I can do. I--I do not understand why you found employment to earn a wage. There is no need.”

“I _need_ to stop feeling like an undeserving mooch and become a contributing member of society.” She fired back. She’d been feeling extra useless post-Snaketpus incident. After all she had contributed to their successful defeat of the sea monster, and ever since then she felt like she could be doing _more_. And so, she set her mind to getting a job. 

Thor was not happy about it. Beyond his princely duties, she doubted he’d ever had a job. He couldn’t understand why she wanted the satisfaction that a weekly paycheck could give, especially when it was earned for a job well done. “I can’t let you and your parent’s support me forever. I need to be an independent woman. Like Beyonce. Not this stray cat you found and now have to keep because I had kittens under your bed.”

She frowned at her wording, it wasn’t a perfect metaphor and she was sure Thor had ‘WTF’ face but he knew what she meant. Thor’s protests weren’t so much about her desire to work as her short sighted confession that she hoped to strike out on her own once she had enough money to move out of the palace.  
Darcy could hear the sincerity in his tone as he softly added. “I assure my Lady, having you around is not a burden.” 

She’d been on Asgard for three months and every single day of that time she had been relying on the kindness of others to survive. And while that had worked well for her so far, there was no guarantee she would retain the royal’s favor forever. Especially not now that Thor had told his mom to back off about her and how she chose to mother Alice. And Chip, whom she’d reclaimed. She knew she could never repay Thor for taking her in, but she felt confident she could leave and stop being so clingy and dependent on his…everything. 

Truly, she was beginning to feel as if her very personhood was defined by her association with Thor and Alice. Not that she regretted knowing them, loving them, Thor and Alice were the most important people in her life. But if she wasn’t referred to as Alice’s mother, she was called Thor’s ‘little Midgardian’. She didn’t want to be that. She wanted to be Darcy. 

Darcy first and foremost.

“You all admitted to me that living on Asgard might be a permanent thing. Ergo, me ‘crashing’ at the palace until I go ‘home’ is not a temporary thing.” She lectured. 

“I do not understand why you wish to work when you have a babe to look after.” Thor held up Alice in his arms, as if to display her neediness. “Do you not think caring for her alone, hardship enough?” 

The baby was sucking happily on a bottle. Before she’d even started looking for a job so she could fund her move out of the palace, Darcy had to find out if she could even have a job away from her baby all day. And the most important piece of that puzzle had been figuring out how to feed Alice without her boobs being in the same room as her baby. 

After some awkward inquiries with the Queen’s handmaiden, she’d discovered Asgardians did in fact have breast pumping technology. And to her surprise Volstagg’s wife had invented it! 

The woman had been a wellspring of information regarding child rearing, apparently she and Volstagg were unlike most other Asgardians as they had a brood of eight children. She’d found it was the norm for couples on Asgard to only have one child, maybe two if the woman was especially young when she first became pregnant. She’d initially been told that the reason why everyone was so gaga over her tale of multiple births and baby Alice herself, was because Asgardians were ‘not overly fertile’. It didn’t really sink in what that _meant_ until she’d learned that there were chapel’s dedicated to grieving miscarried children/infant deaths. 

Darcy’s heart broke for the Asgardian people whose infant mortality rate was sky high. For the mother’s who rarely carried their children to term on their first, second, or third times becoming pregnant. It’s also why she no longer got snippy with the Queen when she all but kidnapped her daughter for some ‘royal baby time’. It’s why she didn’t refuse people gifting her daughter trinkets or pushing her to eat so she could remain strong enough to care for her child. She let the staff stop her in the hallway so they could coo over Alice being ‘sooooo cute!’. She let Lady Eir do weekly checkups on her and the baby. She accepted how fearful the Asgardians were as a _people_ for her daughter’s continued safety and her own. 

But she couldn’t deny it was a relief to learn she wasn’t alone in having a healthy womb. Finding and befriending the Asgaridan Octo-Mom equivalent had not only been a godsend but a necessary strategic move in her bid to gain some autonomy in her own life. It helped that Volstagg’s wife Gudrun was a very kind a pleasant woman who she naturally got along well with. Darcy had even nicknamed her ‘Gudy’ because the ‘G’ was actually pronounced like a ‘J’ and thus if you said _Gudrun_ fast it sounded like ‘Judd run’ and so “G/Judy” just made sense to her. 

Upon getting some sage advice from Gudy, she’d started introducing Alice to the bottle. The experienced mother said it would stop her breasts from becoming uncomfortably engorged and leaky, and as long as she continued to breastfeed at least two times a day her milk wouldn’t dry up. 

“But how can you stand to be away from her?” Thor said, his voice taking on a whiny tone. She rolled her eyes at his bid to make her feel guilty. 

“This is something I need to do Thor. Don’t try to make me feel bad about it.” She said sternly, making it clear she was done hearing his bullshit. Disappearing behind the fancy privacy screen she shed her bathrobe and picked up her underwear to get dressed for the day.

“It is not my intention to ever cause you distress my Lady.” She could hear Thor plopping down heavily on her bed and the consistent ‘suck, suck, suck’ of Alice pulling at the bottle. She let out a grunt of frustration as she laced up her bra and finally tied it tight enough to hold in her huge chest. She let out a sigh. Looking at herself in the mirror she admired the craftsmanship of the half corset/half bra. Underwear on Asgard was a pain in the ass to get into, but she couldn’t deny the beauty of it. 

“I just wish--I just wish you did not feel the way you do…but. On my honor, I will support you. If this is what you truly desire.” He didn’t sound happy about it.

“It is.” She replied and then paused in her dressing. Listening as Thor let out a beleaguered sigh. She knew he didn’t understand, but she did appreciated him being there all the same. Even if he was kind of whiney and argumentative at first. 

As she slipped into a silky but stretchy blue jumpsuit she couldn’t help but be grateful he consented to babysit Alice for her until she found a more convenient child care solution. She pulled a sleeveless robe on over the simple garment and with a nod to her reflection, she considered herself properly dressed for her first day in the kitchens. “Okay,” She warned as she came out from behind the screen. “How do I look?” 

Thor looked her over from head to toe before frowning. “Beautiful and well equipped to handle the unnecessary menial labor you’re foolishly subjecting yourself to.” 

After subtly inquiring if any of the surrounding businesses were looking for help and getting turned down, she’d learned one of the palaces’ kitchen staff had a fallen from a horse. The young woman had broken her leg and arm and would not be able to return back to work for at least a month. Filled with determination she’d cornered the head chef and demanded he let her try out for the job. He’d agreed on one condition, if she did work out she would use her favor with the royals to talk them into letting him out of his contract at the palace so he could open up a restaurant of his own. He was tired of cooking to the whims of the royals, he wanted to create his own dishes and set his own menue. Without hesitation she’d agreed and a deal had been struck.

With a smile she acknowledged the compliment hidden in Thor’s response. “Thank you.” She ran her hands down the fabric of her jumpsuit nervously. She positioned herself directly in front of the floor length mirror and frowned at her reflection. She put a hand to her hair. It fell loose around her shoulders and looked unkempt in its natural state. 

Looking over her shoulder at Thor she asked, “Do think I’ll have to wear a hair net? Or am I supposed to braid it before I get there?” 

She hated how uncertain her voice sounded. Truthfully she was super stressed about the new job; for all that she argued with Thor about knowing what she was doing was for the best, she didn’t. She didn’t know she _needed_ to move out of the palace, she just knew something wasn’t right. Something needed to change. And she needed to make it happen. 

The fact that she wasn’t exactly a culinary expert back on Earth was enough to have her feeling nauseous about waltzing into the kitchens of the royal palace after demanding a job. Talk about nepotism. She was already bracing for disaster. 

Thor looked at her with a considering look on his face. She met his eyes in the reflection of the mirror. She tried to not let her anxiety show, but the smile on her face looked strained and she knew there was fear in her eyes. Without another word, Thor plucked the bottle out of Alice’s mouth and set her down in her swing, turning on the musical mobile to entertain her while he made the approach over to Darcy. 

“Come.” He said in a low voice. A warm hand on the small of her back guided her over to the vanity, he pulled out the bench so she could sit and put his hands on her shoulders guiding her. Looking into the circular mirror, he met her eyes in the reflection once again. “I do not agree with your decision to leave your young babe and work for money you do not need to leave a home where are welcome and loved.” 

His words were like a gut punch, he was really laying on the guilt super thick. However his tone flipped from somber to chipper as he bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “But, as you are so dear to my heart. I will help you anyway.” 

A genuine if not confused smile grew on her face as Thor picked up a brush and set to work on taming her hair. “I shall put it up for you and you shall have a brilliant first day, dazzling all those who taste your delicious culinary concoctions.” 

“Dude I’ll just be happy if I don’t burn the place down.”  
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The kitchen staff was not exactly what she would call ‘welcoming’ especially when she started off by explaining to the head chef that she’d have to take a break to pump her breast milk into bottles half way through the day. 

“Late and she wants special privileges.” A cook commented not even looking up from the carrots he was chopping. A woman brushed past her holding a large pot ordering, “Move, woman.” 

Darcy jumped out of the way. The room was full of people moving confidently and performing tasks in symphony with their fellow chefs. The man in charge gestured over to the wall of hooks. “Grab an apron and some gloves. You will be scrubbing dishes for the first few hours.”

A little annoyed she’d be washing dishes by hand, instead of with a _dishwasher machine_ Darcy made no complaints and hurried to grab her supplies. But it was seriously stupid that the technologically advanced civilization didn’t have an industrial grade washer.

“Over there.” The chef pointed to the back of the kitchens. She found dirty plates and cups and bowls all piled up high taking up an entire counter next to a sink filled with murky brown water. There were a few scrub brushes with worn bristles and discolored sponges sitting on the edge, just waiting to be used. 

“Awesome.” She muttered to herself as she got to work.  
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After being ignored for three hours straight, the head Chef said she could try her hand at cooking something. She was so surprised and excited about not having to wash any more dishes that she decided to stay quiet about the need to go pump her breast milk. 

He appointed one of the other cooks to show her what to do. The man he chose rolled his eyes when his name was called but, dutifully led her over to a station of onions. When he told her to get to work and handed her a knife, she had to admit to him she didn’t know what to do.

With an angry scowl he muttered something about children and picked up an onion from the heap next to the cutting board. He took the knife and cut the onion in half vertically; he peeled off the outer paper-y layer then placed the halves cut side down. With a quick hand he cut off the top and bottom. Finally he began really cut up the onion. The knife went ‘chop, chop, chop’ as he made long slices down the onion, before turning it on its side and repeating the ‘chop, chop, chop’ process even faster, creating tons of tiny cubed onion pieces. 

“There.” He grunted shoving the knife at her. “It is simple. Take onion cubes and pour into pot when board is full. We need one hundred before dinner.” 

“One hundred!” She exclaimed, but the look of death he gave her had her averting her eyes and repeating the number in subdued tone. “One hundred. Got it.” 

She got to work cutting the onion as the man had showed her, but she was moving painfully slow. Behind her someone threw a few more logs into a wood burning stove. On top a big smelly pot boiling and clogging up her nose, the heat was so oppressive it was distracting. However valiantly she tried to remain focused on her work. 

Sweat beaded at her hair line. She ignored it and kept chopping. When it began to slide down the side of her face, she wiped the water away with her shoulder. Determined, she kept chopping. When she felt prescience at her back she stiffened and her hand began to shake. 

The head chef picked up one of her onion cubes and examined it closely. He then set it back down and quietly said, “Good. But you need to move faster.” 

She appreciated that the man was no Gordon Ramsey, not yelling at her, but she also didn’t know if she could cut any faster. “Yes sir.” She replied with a nod. 

She kept on chopping and sweating for another hour before disaster struck. The stove had been made to burn even hotter and thus she began sweating even more profusely. The little salty droplets of water now slid down to obscure her vision in addition to everywhere else on her body making her feel wet and gross. Her hands were sweaty and she was tired from standing on her feet all day, and so cutting into her finger and gushing blood was bound to happen eventually. 

She let out a yelp but didn’t want to draw any more attention to her act of stupidity. However, sweat was still running down her face, and in an effort to see how deep the cut was she dropped the knife and thoughtlessly wiped at her eyes. They immediately began to burn with the urge to cry the irritant out. 

As she silently cried she grabbed up the bottom of her apron to wrap around her injured finger in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She kept her head down as she cried and walked quickly over to the head chef. “Um, sir?” 

“Wait.” He ordered as he stared intently at a cup he was holding over a bubbling pot. The substance he was pouring out moved slowly and was a light brown color, the word molasses popped up in her brain, but she didn’t know if she really knew what molasses was or if it was the same thing on Asgard as back home.

She stood there for about two minutes, waiting for the chef to pour his slow moving goo. Crying and bleeding. When she felt a peculiar but familiar twinge in her chest she couldn’t help but whimper. The chef looked up at her and she felt her face get hot with shame. 

“Not now.” She blubbered to herself quietly as her breasts began lactating, staining the apron and her clothes underneath.  
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When she came back to her room, Thor was there. He stood in the middle of the room turning in a circle and she was so confused by what he was doing she froze and just stared at him for a minute. 

He held baby Alice aloft one handedly. With her stomach lying on his forearm, he had one hand on her back, cradling her sort of like a football, as he spun her around slowly letting her feel the centrifugal force gently tugging at her limbs. 

When he finally noticed her in the doorway he smiled a little brighter. “Darcy! You have returned early. How was your first day?”

She wanted to keep her composure and explain what had happened to Thor in a calm and grown up manner. But, he was her best friend. The one person on Asgard she was sure was on her side even when he wasn’t. She watched as Thor’s expression grew worried, his eyes flickered up and down her disheveled appearance. “What happened?” 

In a watery voice she squeaked, “I quit.” She took a step inside, slammed the door and dissolved into tears.

“Darcy!” Thor exclaimed. She slid along the door and cowered against it as she brought her knees up to her chest and cried. She’d failed so spectacularly and in front of so many witnesses! 

“I’m so stupid.” She whined as she balled up her fists and pressed them to her eyes. Her mind flashing back to the giggling staff as the head chef helped flush out her eyes with water, clearing out the onion juice. 

“You are not stupid.” Thor argued, he was still across the room and she could hear Alice fussing. She pried open her eyes just in time to see Thor press the stuffed oyster into Alice’s hand as he left her in the baby swing. He was by her side in an instant. 

He gathered her up in his arms and she cried even harder as she cuddled against the strong broad chest. “I screwed up so bad. I can’t ever go back.”

“I am sure that is not true.” Thor said as he squeezed her comfortingly. “Whatever mistake you made--I will speak with them. You will be given a second chance. A better chance! An apprenticeship!” 

“I don’t want to go back!” She cried out as she sniffed up some snot. Alice began to cry. Pressing her face to Thor’s neck her body shook with suppressed sobs. She didn’t want to deal with the baby while she felt so shitty about herself. Didn’t Alice get that? Soothingly Thor rubbed her back. But, Alice cried louder. 

“I don’t even like cooking!” She revealed loudly as she violently pulled away from him. Grabbing the door knob for leverage she got to her feet and stomped over to the baby. The swing wasn’t moving. She gave it a hard shove and the babies cry hesitated. She put a plastic smile on her face and cooed at her daughter in a forced cheerful tone. “Hello baby. Hello angel girl.” 

Thor got up from the floor and joined her, standing at her back as she pushed the swing so it would remain moving at the fast pace Alice preferred. 

“Everything’s okay honey.” She said addressing herself just as much as she was Alice in that moment. “Everything will be fine.” Her babies crying died off the longer she stood there pushing the swing. She wondered if the only thing she would ever be good at was caring for her daughter.

And if it was, would that be so bad? _Yes_ a little voice whispered in her mind. Women were supposed to be superheroes. Successful career women and super moms who lost the baby weight quickly and always look their best when in public. 

Thor was silent for a long minute before she felt a tentative hand on her back. Alice’s eyes were drooping closed. She must have been having a lot of fun with Thor while she was gone because her girl usually took at least fifteen minutes to pass out if she was in the swing. 

Thor’s hand slid along her back and wrapped around her waist, he took a step forward putting his front flush with her back. His other hand wrapped around her so he could completely hug her from behind. With his chin resting on the top of her head, Thor declared. “This is all my fault.” 

“How?” She questioned flatly. “I screwed up. Not you.” 

“When you told me of your plans to seek a job, to find a permanent residence outside of the palace, I--I told my mother.” He squeezed her extra tight. “She didn’t come out and say it, but I know she made sure no one would consider hiring you.” 

“What!?” She quietly exclaimed, mindful of her nearly sleeping baby. She tried to pull out of Thor’s arms, turn around and face him, but he remained glued to her back. 

“I do not want you to leave.” Thor admitted quietly, “I knew what telling my mother meant, what she would most likely do. I did not want to be the one who stopped you, so I let her do my dirty work.” 

“Thor.” She growled his name warningly.

“But you foiled our plans! All on your own you found someone willing to go against my mother’s decree.” He said with pride. “And. You were so happy…but I could tell you were also frightened. I tried to talk you out of it, but you remained steadfast, making my feelings of guilt grow. It is why I offered to watch Alice while you were gone. It is why I helped you with your hair.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, the edges of his lips grazing her ear. “I am so sorry.” 

She was quiet for a minute, letting his words and actions really sink in. “Let me go.” 

He released her immediately. She turned to stare up at him. “This is the second time you’ve—but you look so…” He looked so apologetic. She could see the pain on his face; he truly regretted his hand in her employment sabotage. She knew he acted out of love for her, but it was still wrong. She couldn’t let him think what he’d done was okay. Even if she had already forgiven him in her heart.

She pointed at his chest. Her finger did not exert enough pressure to move him, but as she stepped forward he obligingly backed up. “Thor, you cannot do anything like this to me ever again.”

“I promise.” Thor said as he walked backward in accordance with her will. 

“I have to be in charge of my own life.” She lectured as she stalked forward. “I cannot stand being sabotaged every time I make a decision you don’t agree with.” 

“I was selfish, I know.” 

She stopped moving when Thor’s back hit the door. She looked up at him and allowed the feelings she had for him to play out across her face. “I need to be able trust you Thor, because I love you. You’re my best friend. I literally cannot do _this_ without you.” 

Reaching out he grabbed her wrist, holding tight to the hand she had been pushing him away with. He ducked his head so they were eye to eye and with the most sincere of voices he assured her. “I want you to be able to trust me too.” 

Slowly he lowered her arm and dropped her hand only to let the backs of his fingers lightly trail up her arm, from her wrist to her shoulder they stood in silence, just looking at each other while he touched her. There was something palpable between the two of them that had never been there before and it had her holding her breath. 

He gently cupped her face as he broke the quiet with impassioned words. “And I love you too, M’Lady.” 

The way he said it made her pause. There was an intensity to his declaration of love that hadn’t accompanied her own. “I will always love you, Darcy. And-- I may be an idiot at showing it but please, do not doubt how much I care for you and Alice. I would do anything to make you happy.” 

There was heat in his gaze as he stared at her face. When his eyes flickered down to her lips she idly wondered if he was going to kiss her. She didn’t even know how she would react if he did. He licked his lips before speaking in a gruff voice that sent a shiver up her spine. “You are as close to my heart as my own family.”

“Thor…” She began, but she had no other words. She didn’t know what to say to him, how to react to this unexpected passion he was showing.

He let his hand fall away from her face and she felt like the spell was broken. Blinking, she took a step back and stared at his feet, a bit in shock. When she finally got the courage to meet his gaze again he met it unflinchingly. 

She got the feeling that he ‘like’ liked her, but that did not compute with her reality. She stared at his face trying to decipher what was really going on. She knew Thor handsome. You literally couldn’t look at the man and not see how imperially pretty and appealing he was. And yet, for some reason she hadn’t thought of him _like that_ in all the months that she’d known him. Sure she ogled him a bit, but who wouldn’t? 

In her head she’d put him in the category firmly labeled ‘family’ and had never even questioned it. Now she was questioning everything.

Every time he smiled at her and she felt butterflies flapping in her stomach, she had brushed it off as a side effect of his inherent handsomeness, but what if that wasn’t true. Why did she feel safe in his arms? Why did she trust and forgive so easily? Did she like him? Did she actually believe he liked her? Was she delusional? Was--

“I am going to leave.” Thor said, cutting off her train of thought.

“Okay.” She said stiltedly. 

“I will speak to my mother. And in the morning I will help you obtain a new job, one better suited to your skills and talents.” 

“Whatever those are.” She muttered, taking another step back. Thor pushed off from the door and moved forward, invading her personal space to hug her. She offered no resistance as he enveloped her small frame with his larger one.

“Thank you for forgiving my selfishness.” He kissed her on the cheek. “You are truly a beautiful soul.” 

“You’re back on poop duty.” She informed him sternly. 

“What?” Thor questioned with a smile as he pulled away from the embrace. 

“As punishment.” She insisted, folding her arms in front of her chest she put distance between them. Whatever weird unresolved sexual tension thing that had just occurred was not going distract her from laying down the law. 

She took another step away. “You betrayed me. And now you have to suffer. Because while, I do forgive you, I am not happy with you. In fact, I’m mad at you. And you need to pay some penance to get back in my good graces.”

“So, I am once again at the beck and call of Lady Alice’s bowels.” Thor said with a laugh. He then darted forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. And without another word he left her room.  
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A few days later, Darcy was trying her hand at being Odin’s personal assistant. 

After explaining to Thor what she went to school for and what her degree in political science would have meant (job wise) back on Earth, he purposed the idea. She never thought Odin would go for it, but he did. And so, she became the King’s assistant. 

From the beginning, all her duties were made very clear. And surprisingly she excelled in the position. She was organized, she had an excellent memory, she was able to subtly whisper in Odin’s ear about who he was meeting and why, make excuses when he got grumpy and basically smooth over any prickliness when he interacted with the people. 

Over the course of her time in his service she’d learned that Odin in private was different than ‘King Odin’. While in public she saw none of the warmth he showed whilst it was just the royal family. This was not to say he was rude or abused his power around her. She found that he was actually very respectful of those who served him. It was a shock to her when the most demeaning thing he really asked of her was to get him tea on occasion. 

Working for the King had other perks as well. For one he understood her need to take breaks to pump breast milk and didn’t make a big thing about it. Also, she was still in the palace, so the commute was great. And, Thor randomly brought Alice by to her _and_ Odin’s delight. 

It was really, really, the most normal job she could imagine having on Asgard. And maybe one of the most boring. None of the tasks she was given were challenging and often she found her mind wandering. But she was undeniably good at the job and Odin seemed to like her, so she didn’t complain. 

Thor was over the moon about the two of them getting along. The King had never had an assistant before. The position had basically been created to give her something to do, but she got the feeling that after a week or so Odin and Frigga felt her indispensable. 

In a bid to make the job at least entertaining, she took advantage of the quiet moments in between all his daily responsibilities and picked the King’s brain. She learned a bit about Asgard and how it functioned. Their laws and customs, its history. Odin was fond of recounting battles where he featured prominently as a warrior king. But she also learned some stuff about him as a person in general. 

After three weeks as his assistant she knew his favorite color was peach. He liked a bit of cinnamon mixed in with his mint tea. He liked to bird watch. He was not a sore loser when it came to checkers. He wasn’t good at doing math in his head. And thanks to her, he now knew how to play cat’s cradle. 

However on one particularly tedious day, he dismissed court early (just because he could) and spent the afternoon telling her the story of Loki and how he came to be adopted into the royal family. It was interesting to hear the tale from the horse’s mouth so to speak. There was a lot of sadness in his voice when he spoke of his lost son.

On another afternoon he waxed poetic about the first time he saw Frigga and fell madly in love with her at first sight. And how she hated him upon first interaction. He recounted the struggle of winning her over. How he had to secretly woo and groveling for attentions, whilst maintaining an unflappable façade of a perfect union in public. 

He told her about learning who Frigga was under the beauty he first fell in love with. He said he would always treasure that he got to fall in love with her twice, once when he first saw her and once when he finally _knew_ her. Honestly, the pair of them reminded her of Catelyn and Ned Stark, in that Frigga and Odin’s marriage was also arranged and politically motivated. And yet somehow, they fell in love anyway. He said it was done little by little, day by day, sometimes even minute by minute. They did not fall in love quickly, it was something that developed slowly and grew stronger over time. 

It was the most emotionally open she’d ever seen him. 

However, her favorite day as his assistant was when Thor got in trouble for breaking something on accident and had to pay restitution in front of Odin to the blacksmith he’d wronged. Odin dismissed the court save Thor and herself, and spent the rest of the day telling her embarrassing stories of Thor and Loki as children. 

Thor had been red faced and pleading when his father told her of the time they snuck behind enemy lines and ended up dressing in drag to escape unscathed. But her favorite story was when Loki filled a sack with snakes and dropped it on his older brother’s head, convinced his older brother would screech like a little girl and run away. Odin had glowed with happiness as he recounted the moody scowl Loki wore for a week after his mischief was ruined by Thor’s utter delight and fascination with the legless creatures being rained down upon him. That incident was apparently which sparked his love for the cold blooded animals. 

After growing so close to the man, it was a shock to walk into the throne room one day and just get randomly and unceremoniously, fired. 

“What? What do you mean I’m fired?” She asked in confusion. 

Odin didn’t meet her eyes as he spoke. “I think, you are not happy in this position, well not as happy as you thought you would be. Given that this is the type of employment you dreamed of once upon a time. But, be that as it may. I am firing you, effective immediately.” 

“But I’m good at this.” She argued, annoyed once again her choices were being taken away from her.

“You are bored.” Odin said kindly, finally looking at her. There was pity and affection in his eyes but she could not un-grit her teeth as he spoke so imperiously. “I think it would serve you well to try your hand at several jobs all around Asgard until you found the one that truly suits you.” 

“This suits me fine!” Darcy waved her improvised clipboard at him. “Look all these meetings we have to get through today. Seriously Odin? I’m not—we’re going to put a pin in this discussion and come back to it later. Okay? Okay. Let’s just get on with the day like normal and--” 

“Guards.” Odin called out casually, “Take her away.” 

“YOU DID NOT JUST--” A pair of guards appeared on either and grabbed her arms making her drop her clipboard as they dragged her to the exit. “NOT COOL ODIN! THIS IS SO _NOT_ COOL!” 

As she became aware of the many stares she was attracting she screamed out, “CONSIDER YOURSELF UNFRIENDED!”  
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Thor had been just as bewildered by his father’s actions as she was. “Are you sure he didn’t give you any hints about dismissing you before today?”

“No.” She said sourly. In the weeks she’d been Odin’s assistant everything with Thor had felt slightly awkward. She had been keeping him at arm’s length, and not being subtle about it. However, after being banned from the throne room and fired by his _dad_ , she all but ran back into his arms to seethe and complain. 

“It’s such bullshit.” She grumped. Alice and Chip were playing this adorable game of ‘roll over’ on the floor while she sat criss cross in front of them. Thor sat behind her braiding her hair. He suggested she might find it relaxing to be pampered a bit while she ranted.

He was right, it was. Especially, at the beginning when he was just running his fingers through her hair to detangle it.

“If it means that much to you.” He offered. “I can make an appeal to my father upon your behalf.” 

“No.” She pouted. “Even if he did take me back, it wouldn’t be the same. It’d be all awkward. I’ll…I’ll just have to find something else.” 

Thor pulled a chunk of her hair tight and she let out a ‘mmmh’ noise. He was weaving an intricate braid across the crown of her head and the tension and tingles his actions caused in her scalp felt weirdly good. There was an awkward pause in his braiding as the pleasured noise she made just hung in the air between them. 

“Darcy?” 

Desperate to change the topic she pointed at her dog and said, “Look!” 

Chip lay on his back with his limbs in the air, looking like he was playing dead, but his eyes were trained on Alice as he rolled back and forth demonstratively. She wondered if the dog was trying to get the baby to copy him. Alice just waved her limbs about excitedly because at five months old she was able to roll over from front to back, but the other way around was still too difficult.

“So cute.” She commented. Thankfully, Thor took the hint and let the moment pass.

“So what do you want to do next?” Thor asked in his deep serious voice, his lips were so close to her ear that shivered. His hands stilled in her hair as he waited for her response. 

“I don’t know.” She answered honestly. “But I still want to do something. Find a job I’m good at, that I…” With a sigh she admitted, “That I actually like doing.”

“You did not enjoy your time with my father?” Thor questioned.

“No I did.” She reassured him, “it’s just the job was…not all I thought it would be. It was, too easy. I liked it better when we just chatted and I got to know Odin a bit better as a person. You know, in between all the ‘work’ stuff.” 

Thor resumed braiding. “You’ll find something new.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, whispering into her skin. “I’ll help you.” 

As Thor tugged her hair and murmured “tilt your head back” she couldn’t help but give voice to the obvious as she did what he asked. “Yeah but you know what? Breakfast with your parent’s tomorrow is still gonna suckkkkkkk.”  
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A week or so later, Thor brought her to the local tavern and she got a job as an honest to god serving wench. 

She was hesitant about the gig, as dealing with super strong drunken men didn’t sound fun, but Thor asked her to trust him. He was convinced she would love it. “You’ll get to meet different people every night. Spend your time bringing joy to the patrons along with their libations. And you can even partake in some revelry for yourself! It’s the perfect job!” 

She’d been a waitress and knew it was far from her dream job. However when Lady Sif also said she might like it, she became intrigued. Apparently her reputation as a ‘people person’ really had everyone thinking ‘serving wench’ was the way to go.

She was to work a very short shift the first night, from about nine at night until last call. She wasn’t too sure about how it would all work out, but Thor said he’d be there to support her along with everyone else who loved her _and_ loved to drink. 

Her first day on the job was memorable because it was Alice’s six month birthday. And in honor of the special occasion Thor presented her with a special gift. Her ipod and Stark tablet. Fully charged and improved. 

Somehow the engineers/witches of Asgard had added on a doodad to her ipod so allow her to project sound beyond the earphones. It was so enhanced that she could probably host her own mini-concert if she wanted to. And bonus, both devices were now solar powered!

She had cried as she watched Alice’s face as her baby girl heard Judy Garland sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” for the first time. So excited about having the gift of Earth music back in her life, she’d set aside the Starkpad completely to explore at a later date. 

She and Thor spent the day celebrating Alice’s birth, just the three of them. Plus Chip. Considering the special occasion, they decided to take Alice to the palace indoor swimming pool. Another first for her beautiful baby. 

However, to her absolute horror her daughter freaked out when they tried to take her into the water. A mer-baby Alice was not. So instead, Thor held her in his arms as he sat on the edge of the pool just cooling off his feet while he watched Darcy swim around with Chip. Thankfully the dog loved the water as much as she did. 

It was a really nice and quiet kind of day. They spent the bulk of it talking and after Alice fell asleep Thor joined her in the water and they swam and played together. It was fun and innocent and everything she needed. 

After dinner, they left Alice in the King and Queen’s care, while Thor accompanied her to first day at her new job as a serving wench.  
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Upon entering the tavern a rousing cheer went out amongst the crowd, lead by the Warrior’s Three and Lady Sif and Heimdall. Darcy’s face burned as she realized what Thor meant about all the people who cared about her ‘being there for her’ on her first day of the new job. She thought he meant metaphorically, she should have known Thor was a very literal kind of guy.

“Hey people.” She greeted them with a wave. To her surprise all the patrons waved back, even the one’s she didn’t know.

She looked up at Thor and found him grinning down at her. “Let us find your new employer.” 

With an arm around her shoulders Thor guided her through the crowded room. He pressed a kiss to her cheek as he left her to prepare for her first shift and converse with her new boss. The owner gave her a food tray with drinks and prices written on it, and told her ‘good luck’ and then basically to ‘shoo’. It wasn’t brain surgery.

As she crossed the room to see to her friends it was hard not compare the tavern to the bars back home. It was dimly lit, there were smoke in the air but it was contained to the corner of the room where a card game was being played. There was a harpist in the corner. It was so different than the bars back on Earth. And yet, she couldn’t help but think it _felt_ the same. Like a dive bar. 

Her friends were at least three cups in to their drinking when she arrived. Only Thor was still working on his first. When she met Sif’s eyes she was honestly surprised to see sobriety there. With a wide smile she asked, “Do need another round of drinks yet?” 

“Lady Darcy!” Volstagg cried out joyfully. “You have arrived just in time. I--” He tipped his beer upside down and chugged until it was empty. With foam clinging to his elaborate beard he smiled at her. “I have just run out of mead.”

“I am also in need of libations!” Fandral banged his still full tankard on the table. When it spilled over onto his hand he grabbed the end of Volstagg’s shirt and blotted it dry. Then he looked over at the buxom blonde who was giggling to his left. 

“Many more libations.” He repeated lustfully, diving at the woman he nuzzled and kissed her neck. 

Thor put an arm around her waist and pulled her to stand flush with his body. She rested her serving tray on top of his head. Hogun snorted a laugh and pointed at them. Undeterred Thor responded, “M’Lady I shall have an ale and you can keep them coming all night long so that I can see you return to my side again and again.”

He tilted his head up and she moved the tray with the movement. He looked ridiculous with it on his head as he gave her that flirty expression. She put her hand on his face and just kept it there, obscuring his face. “Okay. Anyone else?” 

Lady Sif and Heimdall shook their heads ‘no’. And the others waved her away. She removed her hand from Thor’s face. “How do you like it so far?” He asked sounding more normal. 

“I’ve been here five minutes.” She told him with a grin. 

“I suppose.” He smiled at her encouragingly. “Still. Try to have fun?” 

“Not too much!” Fandral said, pulling his lips away from the blonde. He pointed at her as the woman began kissing a line down his neck, but she and Thor held his attention despite her distraction. “Do not allow the unwashed scoundrels of this din take advantage of your sweet nature Lady Darcy.”

“Aye!” Hogun cheered drunkenly, he slammed his cup down and got to his feet. “If they lay their hands upon your flesh unwanted, come and tell us, and we shall cleave the appendage from their dishonorable corpses.”

“Kay,” She said warily. “That sounds a little intense.” Hogun nodded and Heimdall tugged him back down into his seat. Darcy shot the men finger guns. “I like the sentiment thought. Good to know you got my back.” 

“Back and front, my Lady!” Fandral crowed before returning to his busty blonde make out session. 

“We are serious.” Thor said, his voice rumbling in his chest. His eyes met hers and she saw a hint of worry in them. 

Sif waved off his concern. “She will be fine. You forget what a fierce some warrior Lady Darcy truly is.” 

When Darcy gave her a dry look the woman threw her head back and laughed at her expense. She turned her eyes on Thor and frowned. “You guys are making me paranoid.” 

It was Volstagg who actually made her feel better. He tapping her lightly on the arm and gave her a sincere look. “Be wary of your surroundings, always, Lady Darcy. But here? You have nothing to fear. This is the tavern closest to the palace it is frequented by guardsmen and warriors. Men of honor. As long as you are direct about your boundaries you will be shown respect.” 

There was a threat in Thor’s voice as he added. “And if you are mistreated in any way. We shall kill them.”  
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There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the tables the wenches covered in the tavern. No zones or designated areas. Mostly the woman with food trays wandered amongst the guests, collecting orders or sitting down to chat with the patrons they liked best. It was the weirdest thing ever, according to her and her many years waitressing on the side when she was in college. 

As Darcy wandered from table to table, collecting empty glasses, taking orders for new ones, she found herself attracting more than her fair share of male attention. The tavern had no uniform for the wenches per say, but all the women were wearing similarly low cut gowns that featured their ample assets. 

She was wearing a dark red and gold dress that when she chose it she thought was simple, but in comparison to the others she stood out like a cupcake amongst broccoli. She watched as the other servers giggled when men touched their asses to get their attention or stuck gold coin ‘tips’ in the women’s cleavage. She looked down at her own chest, her boobs weren’t spilling out of the gown but she wasn’t dressed as modestly as she could have been. 

However when one man tried to do the same to her, she’d stuttered a polite rebuke and the man had hollered out, “NEW GIRL DON’T LIKE TO BE TOUCHED! SO ITS HANDS OFF MEN!”

And at first she’d been frozen stiff; her eyes darted over to Thor but his eyes were surveying the crowd trying to gauge how the declaration was being received. She was sure the men would start booing her or something. But the patrons just nodded and looked at her, as if putting a face to the preference. Volstagg waved her and mouthed the words ‘Told You So’ and she laughed.

The man, who’d tried to tip her by sticking a pair of gold coins down her top, patted her hand kindly before tossing the money onto her tray. “Do not worry young lady. Asgardians love to have a good time, but despite drunken appearances, we would never tolerate a violation against someone’s will. The married servers usually do not like the grabby patrons either.”

He made a pinching motion with his hands, “But you can’t blame an old man for trying his luck the first time round.” 

Flustered but amused, Darcy forced a smile. “Uh, thanks.” She hurried away to clear off a nearby table. Behind her she heard the man mutter, “No my Lady, thank you.” 

When she looked at him over her shoulder, his eyes were on her ass.  
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A few hours later, everyone in the tavern was fucking drunk. The card game had dispersed and the man there were laughing uproariously at raunchy jokes. A few off duty guardsmen still in uniform were standing near the harp player singing a jaunty song off key. And a couple of her fellow servers seemed to be done working for the night as they set up camp sitting on the laps of men, joining in on the drinking and laughter.

She was kept busy and it was tiring work, but she was having fun. Thor had been right, working in the bar was an excellent way to meet people and chat them up. She liked talking to people. Asking them questions about their lives and families, they seemed shocked she was interested and a few talked her ear off when she opened the door but she didn’t mind. She found herself sitting down with many of the patrons, but when they hospitably offered her ale, she only ever took a couple sips. She was having a night to remember and didn’t want getting drunk to get in the way of recalling it later. 

Though she met a few wild characters throughout the night none of them violated the decree to keep them hands to themselves. Even the ones who were blatantly trying to get into her pants. It was weird to be surrounded by so many drunken men, so much bigger and stronger than her, and feel completely safe. As a short, single, non-super powered woman…she’d never experienced anything like it. She had thought that the tavern was just like the bars back home, but it wasn’t. Asgard was a different place with a different kind of people. In some ways better people. 

As she approached the table her friends had camped out at, she leaned against Thor and the man pulled her down into his lap unexpectedly. She let out a shout of surprise and when Thor kissed her on the tip of her nose mumbling, “Hello M’Lady.” She laughed.

Pulling away from his face she waved her hand in between them. His breath stank of beer. “You smell drunk!”

“Aye. I am.” Thor freely admitted. However he was very gentle as he brought one fingertip to her face and ran it down her cheek. “How goes your night? I saw you sit with many a handsome man. Did any strike your fancy?”

“What?” She asked surprised by the question.

“Thor.” Sif said warningly. “Watch yourself.” 

Thor wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face to her chest. “I would rather watch Darcy.” The scratchy hair of his beard prickled the skin exposed at her décolletage. “She is the most beautiful, kindest, prettiest, nicest person in the room. In all the rooms! And I wish for her to be happy.”

He looked up at her then, “Are you happy my Lady? Sif says you need an identity outside of motherhood or the shadow of my friendship to feel fulfilled. So, I ask you again, is it working? Has this job made you feel more like Darcy than I do?”

She was kind of floored by what he’d said. Her eyes flickered over to Sif. The woman just rolled her eyes and took another swig from her glass.

“You’re drunk Thor.” She said kindly, patting his cheek. “Let’s talk personal growth and fulfillment when you can touch a finger to your nose and walk in a straight line.” 

“I can finger touch your nose…though I can think of much more pleasant areas of the body I’d rather finger touch. “He darted forward and kissed the tip of her nose. Grinning at her like a loon he declared toothily. “Though I do find your nose most adorable.” 

“Aye.” Volstagg sighed. “You are a lucky lass that the Lady Alice has so many of your features. When she grows up she will be as glorious as you.” 

Darcy snorted. “Okay now I know you guys are drunk.” Alice was perfect and looked literally nothing like her. They didn’t even have the same color of blue in their eyes. Darcy’s were grey and stormy blue, while Alice’s were bright and happy.

With a frown and far more insight and observation skills than should be possible after the amount of alcohol she’d imbibed, Sif made a statement that sounded like a question. “Lady Darcy, you do not think you are beautiful.” 

“What?” Volstagg exclaimed sounding offended. The looks of disbelief on her friend’s faces made her feel extremely uncomfortable. 

“Okay.” Darcy said, grabbing for Heimdall’s shoulder for leverage so she could pull herself out of Thor’s lap. “You guys need to stop drinking, because you’re talking crazy.” 

“Yes!” Fandral cried out, pointing at her accusingly, “It is madness to deny your beauty.” He shot Sif a dirty look. “You should not spread such slanderous lies out of jealousy.” 

Sif rolled her eyes and took another drink from her cup. When Darcy moved to step away and escape the uncomfortable-ness, Thor grabbed her hand.

“No!” Thor protested. “Don’t go.” 

“I am working.” She reminded him, shaking off his hand. 

“You should stay and have a drink.” Volstagg encouraged, his nose was red and his eyes were glassy as they shifted between herself and Thor. “You have graced so many with your company. We feel neglected.” 

“Yes!” Fandral cried out again, drawing an invisible line in the air from her to Thor he ordered. “Sit back down on Thor and allow him the pleasure of you supple company.” 

Thor giggled, mumbling into his cup, “She’s certainly got a supple pair of—AH!”

Sif threw her full cup of ale across the table, splashing Thor full force in the face. “Sif!” 

The woman merely stood from the table declaring, “I have to piss.” 

“As Lady Darcy would say,” Fandral shouted after her, “NOT COOL!”  
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When last call rolled around the tavern only held a few stragglers. Her friend’s chief among them. She approached the table and sat down with a ‘ugh’ next to Sif. “Okay guys,” She informed them. “Time to go.” 

“One more drink?” Volstagg asked sounding disappointed.

“No.” 

“Aww.” He pouted into his empty cup. 

She turned to Sif and poked her arm. The woman grinned as she downed the last of her drink. “You okay to take Heimdall and Hogun home?” She pointed at the sleepy man who was already half lying on Heimdall’s shoulder. “Cuz I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to coach Thor into carrying him home. At this point he’d probably drop down a well or something.” 

Hogun didn’t even respond to hearing his name. There were a half a dozen empty mugs in front of him on the table. He looked very still. “Hogun’s still breathing right?” 

Sif snorted and hid her face in Thor’s shoulder. The golden eyed man answered her question, “He is alive. Though, come tomorrow morning he may regret that.” 

“Why’d he drink so much?” She asked.

Thor answered with a lopsided smile. “He lost a bet.” 

“Dunderhead bet against Sif,” Fandral said conspiratorially to the maiden on his arm, the woman had fallen asleep an hour ago. And surprisingly, unsurprisingly, Fandral stopped trying to kiss her and stuff. But weirdly, he did keep talking to her as if she was conscious. “A fool’s errand, my lady. If he vomits or pisses himself it will be a well deserved consequence.” 

Darcy frowned. “Is she breathing?” She pointed at the blonde.

“You really do care about people.” Sif said sounding amused. 

Fandral leaned over and smelled the woman’s hair. “Yes. Miranda sleeps soundly with the delicate breathes of an angel.” The woman opened her mouth right on cue and snored loudly. 

“And you’re going to…while she’s knocked out?” Darcy didn’t want to accuse the man of date raping her but, still needed the assurance that he was who she’d come to know him as.

Fandral rolled his eyes. “Do you think so little of me my lady?”

“Not your lady.” Thor interjected. 

Continuing without acknowledging the interruption, Fandral explained. “I will escort the lady Miranda home to her dwelling, leaving her in the care of her four older sisters, each of whom I’ve had the pleasure of deflowering.” 

“Ew.” Darcy commented, but did feel better about Fandral and his unconscious date. 

Unbothered by her repulsion Fandral fingered a lock of the woman’s golden hair. “I have yet to have the pleasure of joining Lady Miranda in her maiden’s bed, but I assure you when I do, she will be wide awake and enjoying every inch of me.” 

“Ew to the extreme.” Darcy frowned as she got up from the table. She pointed at Volstagg. “You cool to get home? I saw that you rode here and I know you and Gudy leave a ways away.”

“Nay.” Volstagg put his hands on his stomach, “I must take to bed in the locale inn. Last time I attempted to return home this inebriated Gudrun did not make custard pies for a month. Better I stay away and not disturb the wee ones with my blundering in.” 

Darcy moved to stand behind Thor. She knew he was smashed, but hoped he was still okay to walk home. All the other serving wenches and even the tavern owner, thought it was ‘cute’ how she kept asking how everyone planned to get home and if they were safe to make the journey alone. 

It was just ingrained in her that you shouldn’t drink and drive; she figured it applied to horse riding too, and just wanted the assurance that everyone she served would get home safely. She was relieved to learn there was a drunk wagon that came to collect those who couldn’t walk and took them to sleep it off in the local ‘drunk tank’ which was, on Asgard, actually just a room with a dozen beds and buckets for puking. Not jail. 

She put her hands on Thor’s shoulders and he stared up at her. His eyes were glassy and he had a dopey look on his face she found endearing. “You are such a caring warm hearted soul my Darcy. We should away before a scoundrel thinks you free to claim for themselves.”

“Thor.” Sif said warningly. She was helping Heimdall lift Hogun onto his shoulders, but she spared Thor a glare. “Remember to keep your tongue whilst your mind is elsewhere least you make a fool of yourself.”

“If I am a fool for love, then call me Jester.” Darcy rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around one of Thor’s massive arms. “C’mon jester. Let’s go pour you into bed.” 

“Nay, bring me the hat with bells!”  
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She only served at the tavern for a couple more nights before quitting. Nothing terrible happened to make her quit, it just wasn’t a good fit. 

To be sure, it was a fun job. Lively enough to keep her entertained, challenging in its own way, but it didn’t feel right. Her mind often recalled what Thor said when he Thor drunkenly extolling the virtues of personal fulfillment. Of building an identity outside of her association with him and Alice. 

And after her foray into the culinary arts, public service, and menial labor, she was beginning to wonder if what she needed wasn’t a job at all. Maybe she would find fulfillment in volunteering or becoming an apprentice. Maybe what she need was to start an Earth music appreciate class? 

Being a mother was everything she ever wanted, personally, but she’d come to realize being defined by her daughter, by the title of mother, it wasn’t enough. She needed to be a person. And on Asgard, she didn’t need to attach her identity to a job title. 

She recognized that she needed to feel secure in herself and who she was so she wouldn’t feel so threatened when people (any people not just Thor’s parents) tried to meddle in her affairs. Or how she raised her daughter. Or how she chose to live her life mooching off the royal’s kindness. 

She really believed that finding something to do outside of mothering Alice, something that made her feel useful and competent and challenged and entertained, _that_ should be her new goal. Moving forward she wasn’t going to limit herself to looking for a ‘job’ just because it’s what she would have done if she were back home on earth. 

Because Asgard wasn’t Earth. She had financial freedom for the first time in her life and it was stupid not to take advantage of that. After all, signing up for the Citizen’s Duty process had been motivated by wanting a child yes but also the need for money to pay for college. Strip all that bullshit away and who was she? What did she like to do? What was she good at? Without the crushing need to earn a living, Darcy hoped she could figure those things out.  
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Late one night, after Alice’s last feeding of the day, Thor wandered by her room to check in before he went to bed. So excited about her new plan and new goal, she invited him in and told him about all what she’d been mulling over. Saying it out loud, explaining it to Thor made the idea seem more solid. More true. 

She didn’t want a job or to move away. She just wanted to find her place. Her thing.

All throughout her long winded explanation Thor sat on her bed, quiet and attentive. When she finally stopped talking he spoke in a soft voice sounding scared to dare to hope. “You really do not wish to leave the palace? To get away from me—and my parents?”

“Not unless whatever I’m looking for requires it.” She said with a shrug, “I mean a doubt I’ll find what I’m looking for out in the woods cuz ew to pooping in the forest, but yeah. Basically, I’m open. Open to trying all the things. To find something that fits me and makes me feel fulfilled.”

“Darcy.” Thor said with a smile, he got to his feet and gripped her shoulders tight. He stared at her intensely before declaring, “I love you.” And then he hugged her. 

She breathed a sigh of relief because for a second before he moved into the embrace, she thought he was going to kiss her. And if he kissed her, she had no idea what would happen next. “I love you too Thor.” 

When he pulled back he stared into her eyes and she found herself flustered, averting her gaze to his chest which was at her eye level. 

“I would like to kiss you.” Thor said quietly. Her eyes jerked up to meet his. He smiled, but there was sadness in it. “But you would not like that, I think.” 

“I…”

He pulled away from her and grabbed her hand; he brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed her hand. It was sweet. He pressed the back of her hand to his cheek and closed his eyes as if savoring the feel of her flesh on his. When he opened his eyes she saw fear.

He whispered a confession and she understood then, what she saw in his eyes. “I’m falling in love with you and I do not know how to stop.” 

She pulled her hand out of his grasp and took a couple steps back. “Thor I can’t--”

“No.” He interrupted. “Not yet.” His eyes softened. “You cannot love me back yet. But I survive on the hope that one day you might.” 

And then he left the room. 

And she went to bed. 

Their every moment together to the best of her recollection ran on a loop in her mind. Swimming together. Laughing. Hugging. The mistakes he’d made. The comfort he’d brought her. The feeling of his hands sliding through her hair. The crushing fear of thinking she was going to die being soothed by the certainty that Thor would care for her child when she was gone. 

She loved and trusted him more than anyone else, ever. 

She’d never been in love. Didn’t she want that in her life? 

Alice already loved him. Wouldn’t he make a wonderful father? 

She had to entertain the idea of loving him back. No matter how much it terrified her.  
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Chef Darcy  


Serving Wench Darcy  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.  
> Who wants Darcy to fall in love with Thor?  
> Show of hands?


	4. Chapter 4 – Like a Tempest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy has an uncomfortable conversation, a dream, and a few realizations. But not in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of update last week, I had to buy a new bed and a new phone and life just wouldn't give me any time to sit down and write.

Chapter 4 – Like a Tempest 

Darcy was dreaming and she could feel wakefulness pulling at her mind but she pushed it away, clinging desperately to the images playing out in her mind. 

She wore a bohemian dress that fluttered in the wind; her hair was wild and free. There was a sense of peaceful anticipation in the air and a setting sun off in the distance. She was on an empty beach, save one man. Hugh Jackman sat before her with a guitar in his hands. He played it with nimble fingers that she instantly wished were on her body instead. When she was a teenager she’d had a big crush on the Australian native, the crush had not dissipated as she got older. 

The song he sang to her was soulful and sad, but at the same time he was shirtless and had sexy scruff on his face and that ‘I will fuck you six ways from Sunday’ intensity in his eyes. She really wanted the scene to dissolve into some smutty sex, but she knew it wouldn’t because of the song he was playing. 

_“What have I become, my sweetest friend? Everyone I know, goes away in the end.”_ She sang along with him, but the duet felt empty somehow. 

In the distance she could see a gorgeous blonde man and her gut tugged in his direction. At first glance she thought it was Thor, because he was so tall and muscular and hazy but, handsome. However, when she looked over her shoulder it was daytime. Behind her Thor was sitting on a picnic blanket with Alice in his arms, waiting for her to return. When she looked back to the unknown blonde man he was further away from her; he was walking off into the distance, only a silhouette against the setting sun. 

She never even saw his face properly and that made her sad for some reason.

The ending of the sultry song brought her attention back to the handsome celebrity serenading her on the beach. Only everything was different. Gone was the setting sun, Jackman, and his guitar. 

Night had fallen while she was distracted by the blondes. The sky above was now inky black save the twinkling diamond stars that shone overhead. The sand underneath her was now cold; a shiver went up her spine as her new attraction began to sing to her.

Tony Stark dressed in a tuxedo sat at the keys of a grand piano. She’d never crushed on the infamous CEO of Stark Industries, but looking at him now playing the instrument with such confidence and dexterity, she could see the appeal. After all, he was very similar to Hugh Jackman in coloring and facial hair awesomeness. If not a little shorter. 

The piano was large and shiny and looked out of place on the beach, but the moon was full and akin to a spotlight, making the whole scene appear magical. The ocean waves perfectly lapped at the shore behind him, never interrupting the man and his music. 

_“You’re nobody til somebody loves you…”_

The song he sang was smooth and jazzy right from the start. She was surprised by how good Stark’s voice was. She’d never heard anything about the billionaire tech genius being a decent singer, but she it was a dream so she supposed the silky tone of his voice that she found so unbelievably alluring was to be expected. 

She stood up from the sand and found herself wearing a flashy gown; she put a hand to her hair and found it in a classy up do. Stark smiled at her toothily, singing he drew her closer with every word that fell from his lips. _“You may be king, you may possess the world and it’s gold. But gold won’t bring you happiness when you’re growing old.”_

In the blink of an eye, she was sitting on top of the piano. Singing into a microphone, harmonizing with Stark like a seasoned lounge singer duro. _“The world still is the same, you never change it. As sure as the stars shine above, you’re nobody til somebody loves you. So find yourself somebody to love.”_

Stark took his fingers off the keys and it continued to play. When he held out his hand to her she didn’t hesitate. They were dancing, Dean Martin’s smooth voice playing in the background as Stark spun her around on the dance floor with ease. 

“Hi.” Darcy said when he pulled her in close. “Nice to meet you.” 

“Hi.” Tony copied, before pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was unexpected but felt like…nostalgia? 

“Do me a favor liquor lips?” He whispered against her skin. “Don’t wake up yet.” She didn’t get to reply because in the next second he was kissing again. This time passionately, until they were both breathless. 

When he finally pulled away and pressed his cheek to hers so they continue dancing, she felt a sense of longing she couldn’t explain. But she savored the feeling of his arm around her waist, the delicate touch of his hand in hers as he guided her around. There was no awkwardness to their movements. Not even the sand still beneath their feet could slow them down. 

“I miss you.” He said quietly as they stopped dancing and just stood, holding each other. Hugging. 

“But we’ve never met before.” She said just as quietly. But internally she acknowledged that the brush of his lips against her cheek as he spoke felt familiar. 

He stepped away from her and smiled at her confidently. “Of course we’ve met. I’m Tony mother fucking Stark.” 

With a sweep of his arm, daylight filled the world around them. They were now wearing casual beach clothes. Dogs were barking and jumping about in the surf as the water crashed down on the sandy shore. Thor and Alice waved to them from the picnic blanket. She could see the Warriors Three and Sif had joined the group as well as the unknown blonde man from before. She still couldn’t see his face only the back of his head and yet somehow she knew he was holding her other daughter in his lap. 

When she looked back to Tony, he held a baby boy in his arms. As she opened her mouth to ask if he was holding her son, Tony slipped his hand into hers and tugged gently. “C’mon beautiful, don’t want to miss the party do we?” She let Tony lead her to the group. 

All smiled brightly at their arrival, but it was Thor who greeted them. “My Lady, we were starting to worry you would miss the celebration.” 

“What celebration?” Darcy asked shakily as she sat down between Thor and Stark. 

Alice shook her hands excitedly, shouting. “Mommy!” 

Thor boomed with laughter, making Alice in his arms shriek in delight. “Why, the triplet’s births day celebration of course. What else would I be speaking of?” 

Sorrow filled her heart at the word ‘triplet’s’. And yet, also love and pride. 

“Shall we sing?” Tony asked, prompting the others to join in a chorus of “Happy Birthday”. Darcy cried as she sang with them. She could picture the children as babies so perfectly in her mind. Anthony and Maria-Sarah. The two children she no longer remembered giving birth to, she dreamt of them often but they were not often pleasant dreams. Not like this. 

Usually she was plagued by nightmares where the infant children died without her. Or grew up but always resented her absence, blamed her, hated her…those were her usual dreams. But this? This was no nightmare, even if the moment was tinged with the sadness of knowing it wasn’t real. 

“Make a wish.” She encouraged as a cake appeared in the center of their group. Thor, Stark, and the blonde man leaned forward so the babies could be closer to the three flames that burned brightly on top of the simple birthday cake. But the babies were too little to understand what they were supposed to do, so the men holding them acted as their proxies. 

The unknown blonde man spoke for Alice’s twin sister, her daughter Maria Sarah. “I wish you remembered me.” And then he blew out one candle.

Stark spoke for her son, Anthony. “I wish you never left me.” And then he blew out the second candle.

Thor spoke for her daughter, Alice. “I wish we could be a real family. All of us.” And then he blew out the last candle.

This was a _real_ dream one she desperately wanted to come true someday. Her reunited with her children, surrounded by people she cared about. She laughed as the Warriors Three plucked the candles out of the cake simultaneously, throwing them thoughtlessly over their shoulders in unison. 

“Darcy.” 

_This was a gift._ She watched as Sif took to cutting the cake and slices were plated and passed around until everyone was served. She was surprised that others had seemingly joined them when she wasn’t paying attention. Beyond her Asgardian friends, were half a dozen new people with blurry faces. They were sharing the cake, adding to the feeling of joy and family. 

“Darcy?” 

_It was a dream she did not want to wake from._ Dogs she didn’t know crashed the party, running through the group and trampling over the rest of the birthday cake. It ruined nothing. 

“Darcy. It’s time to wake up.” A gentle hand on her shoulder jostled her. And just like that, she wasn’t dreaming any more. 

In her mind she reviewed the dream, tried to commit the important bits to her memory. The beach, the blonde man, Stark, her children, Thor. The feeling of being whole, of having everything she needed and wanted in life, right there on that beach, in the sunlight for everyone to see. 

But it was a dream and it was hard to hold onto the details as she fully re-entered the waking world. 

“…I’m awake.” She replied groggily. 

Queen Frigga stood by her bedside, looking down at her with a worried expression. “Are you feeling unwell? It is nearly mid day and I know you requested privacy, but you agreed to at least show your face once a day. When you missed breakfast this morning I just had to come and check on you.” 

The woman pressed the back of her hand to Darcy’s forehead. She let her eyes close briefly at the motherly gesture; it was nice to know that underneath all the criticism Frigga actually cared about her. “I’m fine.” She assured. “Just..I was having a dream.” 

There was a sad smile on the Queen’s face as she replied. “Well. I hope it was a pleasant one.” 

Her voice was full of sorrow as she admitted, “It was. It really, really, was.”   
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After Thor confessed his growing feelings for her Darcy expected things between them to change, and they did, but also they didn’t. 

At first, he acted as if the conversation had never happened, for which she was grateful. He went back to treating her as his dear friend, helping with Alice but not overstepping, offering his companionship without romantic overtones. He was so blasé about it that she almost wondered if she hadn’t imagined it all. 

Still, she walked on eggshells around him. She dressed a little more modestly, stopped giving out so many friendly hugs and cheek kisses. She turned down his offers to do her hair. She brushed off his hand when he tried to guide her with a gentle touch at the small of her back. He took her boundaries in stride, acquiescing to her wishes without comment. 

After a week of that awkward tension/non-tension, she realized she needed to figure some things out. So, she retreated.

She told Thor that since she was no longer focusing on finding a traditional ‘job’ she did not need as much help with Alice. Nervously she let him know he no longer had to pop by her room early in the morning to make sure she was awake/occupy Alice while she showered and got ready for the day. She let him know there was no reason for him to escort her to breakfast or even fulfill his poop related duties. She’d tried to say it all in a joking manner, telling Thor to enjoy getting to sleep in again but he hadn’t looked relieved. He’d given her a curt smile and said “As you wish M’Lady.” 

That same morning, she told the royal family at breakfast that she would be scarce for the foreseeable future because she was starting a new project. And it would have her spending a lot of time in her room. Alone. Except for Alice.

Frigga and Odin accepted the news much as Thor had, politely but with an undercurrent of annoyance. It was frankly better than she hoped for.

For nine days she was a weirdo shut in, only emerging from isolation for supplies and to enjoy a very brief breakfast with the royal family. They seemed concerned for her, but there was no need for it. She did not spend all of the time alone worrying or ‘soul searching’. She spent it painting. 

She started off attempting to paint on a canvas but soon came to the conclusion that ‘traditional’ art was not her forte. So she bought a chair. It was a simple wooden chair, unvarnished, but comfy and prime real estate for her to get creative. She made painting the chair her mission for the rest of the week. 

Her foray into the arts was not one she journeyed alone; she was delighted to discover that Alice also enjoyed art. Her daughter was entertained for hours after being given a large paper, a cup of water, and a paint brush. Letting Alice paint with water was mess free, stimulating, and kept the child entertained as Darcy decided what kind of design she would attempt on her chair. 

She painted it red, hated it, and then painted over it with a calming ocean blue color. She attempted to sketch out some intricate designs on the seat, but when she started painting them in she found herself not adhering to the design at all. So, she started over. Repainting the chair in the same blue color, erasing everything she had plotted out. 

It was funny, because that week in her room with Alice was the most fun she’d had with her daughter since meeting her. Her self-imposed isolation had her caring for Alice all alone for the first time and it was almost surprising how good at it she was. 

With all the drama of her memory loss, unexpected stranding on an alien planet, and the royals second guessing her every parenting decision, she’d forgotten how much she loved kids. As a baby sitter all throughout college she’d gained a lot of experience and she _did_ know stuff. She wasn’t clueless when it came to being a mom and it felt a little sad that she needed to cut herself off from the world to remember that. 

Inspired by how well things were going with her and her daughter, she’d taken a canvas stripped Alice to her diaper and given her some sponges with clothespins attached. She then sprinkled some tiny dots of (edible/safe) paint on the white square and let her daughter go to town. The resulting work of art was both abstract and hilarious because at one point the baby somehow managed to cover her butt in paint and make a big impression of it in the center of the canvas. When it was finished she propped the painting up on top of the dresser so it would be the first thing she saw every morning.

Seeing Alice enjoy the art activities made Darcy start to think about how and what she should be doing to stimulate her daughter’s intellectual development. And her fine motor skills. And critical thinking. Problem solving. Reading. Math! No matter what planet she grew up on, her baby would need basic math kills. 

Having not contemplated any of this ‘educational’ stuff caused her to suffer a _slight_ panic attack, but she was able to recover within a couple hours. However, her mom confidence definitely took a hit. 

In response she spent an entire day writing out all the fun learning activities she’d ever done as a babysitter and as a child herself. She felt sure that no matter what happened between her and Thor, the royals would make sure Alice had the very best education Asgard had to offer. Still, she had a feeling it would be less fun and more formal than her own public school experience in America. 

She knew the American Educational system was a mess, but she always loved school. She had a lot of good teachers who went the extra mile to make learning fun. And when she got older and became a babysitter, she had to help a lot of kids with their homework and that afforded her some experience in teaching. This led her to realize that she would not be content handing Alice over to be taught and shaped as a person, completely without her own input. (Educationally speaking) When she was done with her list it was not a plan, but having written down some of the things, lessons, she wanted to share with her daughter made her feel better about everything somehow. 

In a bid to seize the day she tried teaching Alice her colors, but she given her baby was only seven months old and couldn’t talk…it didn’t really work out. But it did inspire her to make her blue painted chair something a child would be drawn to. 

She pained colorful fish along the back of her wooden chair while Alice was napping. And in a nod to her most exciting experience on Asgard, she painted an octopus on the seat of the chair. It wasn’t a Snaketpus, it was a pink and purple Earth based octopus. 

When she finally finished the chair it occurred to her that it was the first and only, piece of décor or furniture in her room that she had any hand in choosing. (Beside Alice’s butt painting.) Everything else from the bedding, to the light fixtures was already in the guest room she’d been given upon arriving in Asgard. With the exception of Alice’s crib and her other baby accoutrements, one could walk into the room and not know it was Darcy’s. But the chair she’d painted, it was a piece of her home, of Earth. 

The chair wasn’t just a chair; it was something she’d made with her own two hands, something she hoped Alice would sit in and enjoy for years to come once she got older. She knew it wasn’t perfect, but it was simple and cute. The fact that it clashed with everything else in the room didn’t bother her in the slightest. 

Upon completing her project she realized some things. About how she felt as a mother, as a person, and about what Thor had said to her. How he felt about her. And how she felt about him. But before confronting him she desperately wanted a sounding board, to talk to someone neutral before finally confronting Thor. 

She sent word to Sif via messenger and offered to take the woman out to lunch. Rather quickly she received a reply from Sif saying ‘yes’ and that they should meet at the guardsman’s sparring arena at noon. 

While she had briefly withdrawn from society to focus on her chair project/think about life and Alice’s education, she knew she’d been hogging her daughter. And nobody was happy about that. It was true that she’d seen the royals at breakfast every day, but the meals had been brief and she’d kept Alice secured to her chest with a wrap so they could be in and out. No fuss, no muss.

And even so, during those meal time encounters her mind had been preoccupied with other things and thus she’d been abnormally quiet, shying away from conversation as she mechanically shoved food into her face as fast as possible. 

When she’d shown up for breakfast with Alice cradled in her arms rather than wrapped up, Frigga’s eyes had practically lit up. As she placed Alice into the high chair that had gone unused for the past nine days, she noticed someone was missing from the table. 

“Where’s Thor?” She asked the royal couple. 

In response to her isolation and distance during mealtimes, Thor had grown more withdrawn and she knew it was all her fault. After four days he stopped trying to get her to engage in conversation. After seven days his parents stopped trying to drag him into conversation as he became more subdued and unlike his normal jovial self as time went on. 

“He is attending to his princely duties.” Odin informed her. “Putting the Einherjar through their paces.” There was distain in his voice as he added, “Did you think he would mope after you forever?” 

She felt bad that he began to model her own behavior, eating quickly and leaving the table equally so. But in all fairness to Thor he was still polite and friendly; she assumed his mind was just as preoccupied as her own. She could tell he was confused and possibly hurt by her need for space, but until that morning she wasn’t ready to interact with him or anyone, meaningfully. 

Especially, after his ‘I’m falling in love with you’ bomb shell. The time she took for herself and her daughter was necessary. She only hoped that after talking to Sif she would have the right words to explain that and more, to Thor. 

“You just missed him dear, he was not very hungry this morning.” Frigga tried to smooth over the tension with a smile and a cutting glare in her husband’s direction. “But I am sure he would take a break from training if you needed to speak with him?” She waved over one of the servers. “I could send for him now--”

“No!” She exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. When Frigga frowned at her, she took a quick deep breath and smiled, trying to appear normal. “No, I’ll see him later. It’s fine it’s not import—there’s no need to interrupt his work.” 

“He is to be training the bulk of the day.” Odin said pointedly. “Even cut off from the other realms as we are, it is not wise to allow our men to become soft in the absence of battle.”

“I get it.” She said quietly as she made a plate of food for herself. 

“He would make time for Darcy and Alice.” Frigga said, an edge to her voice. Darcy looked up to see the Queen silently communicating with her husband. Odin, one eye down, effortlessly communicated right back with a glare of his own. 

“It’s fine.” She said, putting an end to their exchange of silent eye-based conversation. “Better even, because I have plans with Lady Sif this afternoon anyway. It’s not a big deal--I’ll. I’ll see Thor later, or talk to him after breakfast tomorrow.” 

“Done navel gazing are you?” Odin muttered into his cup. She rolled her eyes at the condescension in his voice. 

Frigga tried to cover for him. With a wide smile she asked, “Does this mean you have finished your ‘secret’ project?” Darcy spared the woman a small smile and a nod. 

Frigga’s eyes glittered mischievously as she teased, “Finally ready to join the world again?”

“Ready to stop running away and hiding like a child is more like it.” Odin butt in. She didn’t allow the painfully truthful comment to ruffle her feathers. 

“Yes.” She said simply. “I am.” 

After they finished eating she asked the woman to watch Alice for the afternoon so she could meet up with Sif. Not even giving Darcy time to explain that she wanted to drop her daughter off later, a little before noon, the Queen all but stole the child from her arms and whisked her away. Left alone with the King, Odin had laughed at her as she stared after the Frigga’s unexpectedly swift exit in bewilderment. But his amusement faded quickly. 

“She missed doting on that child more than you will ever know.” He said, his tone pointed and slightly barbed. “The next time you feel the urge to hide away from the world, don’t.”   
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Having expected to spend the morning caring for Alice like usual, Darcy found herself with a few hours to kill before she met up with Sif. She retreated back to the safety and comfort of her room and decided to pamper herself a little. 

She had long since admired the massive tub in her bathroom, but had mostly utilized the shower. Until now. She turned on the water and made the water warm enough to steam. She lit the as of yet unused scented candles that surrounded the spotless porcelain tub. She employed a magical bath bomb, threw a few flower petals into the water and set up her trusty ipod to play some relaxing music in the background. And when the water was inches within spilling over the sides, she hopped in. 

She’d had a week and change to be alone. To sit and think, so the bath while nice and relaxing, was a bit boring. After about ten minutes she couldn’t stand it and she climbed out to change the music to something more upbeat and fun. 

She sang along and dunked under the water, the tub was big enough to pretend to swim, so she played. She moved forward and backward creating waves, she threw water in the air trying to get it on the ceiling in a Mickey Mouse shaped pattern. She allowed herself to be silly and childish and plan on how to make her next ‘bath time’ with Alice even more fun. When she got out she felt refreshed and made a mental note to inquire after Asgardian bubble bath.

She took her time getting ready. She put on a little make up, loosely braided her hair, and chose her outfit carefully in the hopes of reflecting on the outside how she felt on the inside, which was happy and optimistic and semi-confident that she knew what she was doing.

When she looked in the mirror she couldn’t deny that she still looked and felt fat, but the dress she chose helped hide the lump that was her midsection. The bra she wore lifted and supported. And the dress itself was made of a soft shiny material that felt nice on her skin. And bonus, the dress had pockets! Given she was about to hang out with Sif, a woman who’s physique and effortless beauty would give Victoria Secret models a complex, she felt as prepared as she could be.

And when she was all dressed and ready to go, she found that it was only eleven.   
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She arrived to the sparring arena early. 

From the shadowed area surrounding the open space, she watched as the Einherjar warriors trained. Some fought with swords, some hand to hand, some with more noteworthy weapons like maces and spears. Most trained in groups of two’s or threes, but it was clear from an outsider’s perspective that the others sparring weren’t giving it their all as the match in the center of the area was so compelling they couldn’t help but be distracted by the spectacle. 

In the middle of the arena Thor took on Sif and Fandral. Sweat dripped down his face and she could see the irritation that radiated from him with his every movement. He seemed merciless as he flipped Sif off his back and slammed her down onto the ground before him. Her friend let out a grunt, but never dropped the blunted blade in her hand. 

Sif brought her weapon up just in time to block Thor’s downward blow with an equally blunted edged sword. Darcy held her breath as Thor growled, going down to one knee so he could press the blade closer and closer to Sif’s neck, overpowering the woman with his sheer bulk. 

Darcy moved closer. No one around her was freaking out about the violence being used so she had to assume it was all par for the course for a ‘sparring’ session, no matter how intense it looked in comparison to the others. However she couldn’t help but gasp when Fandral ran at Thor and kicked him in the face, freeing Sif. 

She was less surprised by the violent action than the serious look on the mustachioed man’s face as he fought. “Forget about me did you?” Fandral quipped as he jumped back into a ‘ready’ fighting stance. 

Sif rolled away from Thor and got to her feet, moving to stand side by side with Fandral. Darcy’s eyes flickered around to the spectators. Near the weapons cache she saw Hogun icing his shoulder and Volstagg wrapping up his knee. There were several other soldiers looking just as worse for the wear, tending to various injuries. She wondered how long they all had been at this and if they all had gone against Thor. 

“I am in no mood to banter.” Thor warned Fandral.

“We noticed.” Fandral said flippantly, but he tightened his grip on his weapon in anticipation.

With a roar Thor attacked the pair simultaneously. Sif dodged the pointed end of his sword, but Fandral could not avoid Thor’s fist. The lithe blonde went flying backwards; he met the wall with ‘thunk’ and slid to the floor unconscious. Thor smirked victoriously, “Notice that.” 

Sif took advantage of his momentary gloating. She wacked him in the back with her weapon, once, twice, and then she was dancing out of Thor’s reach when he moved to retaliate. 

“Why so angry my Prince?” Sif taunted. “Is it your men’s lack of skill?” She made a sweeping gesture to the injured men. “Their efforts were rather pathetic.” 

From the crowd Volstagg jeered. “Bad form Sif! Insulting a man after an honorable defeat is no cause for mockery. ‘Tis just a sparring a session after all.” 

Sif shrugged. “Yes, your defeat at the Prince’s hand was honorable. And yet, he seems unsatisfied. Agitated even. It stands to reason that either your performance was lacking or he is taking this ‘sparring’ far more seriously than necessary.” She pointed at Volstagg and Hogun, “Your injuries are proof of that.” 

She turned back to Thor. “So again I ask. Why so angry my Prince?” There was a mocking tone to her words and Darcy couldn’t help but feel she was being a bit cruel. 

“I will beat you.” Thor bragged tiredly as he and Sif circled each other. He pointed at her with his sword. “You should not underestimate me. Nor question your Prince’s methods.” 

“And yet I remain standing.” Sif said haughtily, she gestured to the injured men all around them, “In fact I am the only one still standing who has faced off against you today.” 

“For now.” Thor warned just before he struck out with his sword, a move Sif easily deflected. 

The warrior woman laughed at him, but it sounded forced. “You should just tell me which side you are going to attack if you are to continue to be so sloppy about telegraphing your next move.” 

Thor was moving forward, swiping at her with his sword, forcing Sif to retreat and play defense. When he made her stumble into another pair of guards training, he didn’t stop. He pressed forward. Rolling her eyes, Sif ordered the pair out of their way. . 

“Move!” Sif ducked another swing from Thor’s sword, but did not let the opportunity to pluck a mace from the scurrying away guards’ hand. 

“Cheating?” Thor accused as Sif spun the metal spiked ball in a circle over her head. 

“Winning.” She replied, as she moved out of the way of Thor’s next jab of the sword, only to swing her mace down on the center of the blade, knocking the weapon out of his hands. 

Darcy was surprised to see Thor drop his weapon but he recovered quickly, jumping and rolling out of the way of Sif’s sword as she pressed the advantage. She let out a war cry of her own and swung her blade and mace, trying to hit the defenseless Prince. But he was pretty quick for such a big guy. 

Going up to another pair of half hearted guards practicing, Thor stole a spear and a shield before barking out at the crowd. “CLEAR THE ARENA!” 

As the other Einherjar warriors scurried to do as their Prince ordered, Sif caught her eye. Darcy gave her a wave and the warrior woman smiled at her knowingly. Just when Darcy was about to yell, ‘look out’ Sif ducked as Thor lashed out with his spear. 

“You are too loud.” She criticized as she struck out with her mace. The metal ball hit Thor’s stomach full force and he let out an ‘oof’ before slamming his shield into Sif’s face and pushing her away. They began to circle each other once again. 

“Are you going to continue to run away from me?” Thor asked annoyance and exhaustion clear in his voice. 

A smirk spread across Sif’s beautiful face. “Perhaps I was just waiting for my moment?” She pointed at Thor with her sword, “As I told you to do with Darcy. But alas you ignored me and now all that cross your path suffer, for your stupidity.” 

“Hold your tongue Sif.” Thor said angrily. He launched the spear across the divide between them, forcing her to dodge the weapon. But that seemed to be what he wanted as the spear had barely left his hand before he was running at Sif, catching her off guard he tackled her to the ground. 

Sif seemed to anticipate this and she did a smooth move to roll them, until she was the one on top of Thor when they came to a stop. She held her sword to the Prince’s throat and the mace high above her head threateningly. She grinned like a shark as she asked. “Do you yield?” 

Above them thunder rumbled threateningly in the sky as dark gray clouds gathered overtaking the previously clear blue sky. Sif looked unruffled as she repeated the question pressing the blade to his skin. “Do. You. Yield?” 

He responded in a low tone. “I yield.” 

“You’re finally learning.” Sif commented as she got to her feet. “In the future you would do well to pick _your moments_ like you pick your battles. Which is to say, _carefully._ ” 

She turned to the crowd then and raised her arms in triumph. The injured men and soldiers cheered, rushing over to her to offer congratulations and fawn over her battle prowess. Thor frowned at the display. Rolling to his feet smoothly he stalked away from the scene.

Darcy didn’t think. She just blindly went after him.  
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She had to run to catch up to him and when she did he didn’t even notice until she made conact. She was practically walking side by side with him before he even glanced her way.

“Hey.” She called out softly as she touched his arm. Thor stopped moving and stared at her with a look of astonishment on his face. 

“Darcy?” The beginnings of a smile bloomed on his face. 

She reached out to touch the big purpling bruise on his forearm. “Are you okay? I mean, I only caught the tail end out there, but it looked--”

She didn’t know what she said wrong, but the smile melted off his face. Gruffly Thor pulled his arm out of her grasp. “I am unharmed you needn’t worry.” 

They stared at each other in silence. Things felt so awkward after barely interacting for so long. She didn’t know what to say. Or do.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around this past week.” She apologized. 

“Not a week. Nine days.” He corrected. 

“Yeah.” She conceded flatly. When she didn’t immediately say anything else, Thor looked disappointed. 

“I am sure you had your reasons.” He said dismissively, and then he turned on his heel and started walking away from her. 

She followed after him, unsure if he wanted her to but unwilling to let him go. She could see he was mad at her, and she could guess why, but she wasn’t sorry for disappearing on him. She’d had a lot to process emotionally and hiding away had helped her do that. She was sure that after she explained, he would understand. “Can we talk?” 

Thor stopped. He didn’t turn to look at her as he replied, “Is Alice unwell? In danger in some way?” 

“What?” Darcy was thrown by the question. “No.” 

He ran a hand through his hair. From behind she could read the tension in his shoulders, could see the veins bulging in his arms as he clenched his fists down by his sides. “Then why do you wish to speak to me now? What has changed?” 

She didn’t know how to respond to that, the answer wasn’t concise it was a conversation. “Uh…” 

He turned and stared her down. Bitterness laced his tone as he said, “Really, what is there to talk about Darcy?” 

“Um. Us?” She said with a shrug. 

Thor rolled his eyes and started walking away from her again. “There is no us. I humiliated myself with my confession, I see that now. You made your feelings perfectly clear with your absence. I do not wish to discuss the matter any further. Please, leave me be.” 

“That’s not true!” Darcy ran ahead getting out in front of him. Forcing him to stop running away from her she held her hands out like a blockade. He stared at her coldly, narrowing his eyes. 

She wilted a little, her hands falling back to her sides. “That’s not..you didn’t humiliate yourself Thor. I--You were being honest. And what you said, it was beautiful not shameful not dishonest.” She stared into his eyes trying to convey her sincerity. When she saw him lean in and go a little gooey in the eyes she averted her eyes to the floor. She wanted Thor to talk to her, not fall deeper in love with her. 

“But, I’m not gonna lie dude.” She continued talking to the floor. “For me, your confession came out of nowhere. I mean it’s a week later and I still can’t even wrap my head around the idea. Like, me? _Why?_ It literally makes zero sense, but--yeah. I had no idea you felt that way about me. ” 

“And now that you do?” She looked up at his face. There was a challenge in his eyes, but also yearning. With the heavy weight of his gaze upon her, her mouth suddenly felt dry. She needed to buy time, to figure out what to say, how to explain. And also, get them out of the hallway.

“Can I show you something?” She asked, knowing it was an abrupt way to change the subject, but hoping he wouldn’t question it. 

Thor’s eyes narrowed in confusion. 

“Please?” She added. “I really want to show you something. And I. I think you’ll understand me better if I can show you, this thing.” 

He stared at her in consideration, revealing nothing. She took a step closer and reached out but stopped herself, she wanted to touch his arm to assure him that he should trust her, but given the conversation they were about to have she didn’t want the physical contact to give him false hope. 

Thor nodded his head. “Alright.” 

Darcy forced a smiled. “Great.” 

He reached for her arm, probably intending to loop it through the way they did when they walked together sometimes, but she quickly clasped her hands behind her back not so subtly rebuffing the action. Instead of letting his hand fall lamely by his side like she would, he gestured to the hall prompting, “Lead the way.” 

As they walked side by side, she wondered if he had really been reaching out for her. Or not.   
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When they got back to her room, she made him close his eyes before entering. He was very resistant, but after some wheedling he relented. 

“Okay.” She said with undisguised excitement, “Open them!” She gestured to the painted chair with both hands crying, “Ta da!” 

Thor looked unimpressed. “It is a chair.” 

“I made it!” She boasted. After a beat, she clarified. “Well, I painted it.” 

“It is, well made.” Thor said politely. “If that is all?” 

When he made to leave but Darcy stomped her foot and whined. “Wait!” 

“Darcy,” He sighed wearily. “I am very tired. I have spent the morning training with my men. I smell. I wish to retire to bathe, eat, and rest.”

“Sit in it.” She demanded. When he made no move to do as she said, her shoulders dropped. In a tight voice she begged. “Just please, sit in the chair Thor. We need to talk. I need to tell you some stuff. And just please?” 

For a second she thought Thor would refuse. “Fine.” 

As she watched him walk over to her chair and sit down she couldn’t help but feel a thrill of victory. “Thank you.” 

“Please do not waste my time rambling.” He said despondently. “Just get to the point so I can leave.” 

Darcy took a step away from him, his words were harsh, but his tone was so sad. In a way she felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Not from the callous words but from knowing she was the reason Thor sounded so disheartened. 

As requested, her next words were like ripping off a band aid. “You said you were in love with me and in response I shut myself away and hid from you for a week.” 

“Nine days.” He corrected as he looked at the floor. She moved to stand directly in front of him, she wanted to look into his eyes so badly as she apologized, but they remained fixed elsewhere. 

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t about you, it was about me.” When he still didn’t look up, she got down on her knees in front of him and put her hand on his. Ducking her head she captured his gaze. “I should have warned you I needed some time alone to think. I don’t blame you for being mad at me.” 

“But you were not alone.” Thor’s chest rumbled. “You had Alice with you. And all I had was speculation.” 

“Yeah but, like, she’s a baby.” She conceded. “You know what I mean when I say ‘alone’.” 

“No.” Thor said childishly, “I do not.” 

She gave him a flat look for being so willfully stubborn. Clearing his throat he looked away and said, “I am not mad.” 

“You seem mad.” She countered. His head jerked back in her direction. 

“I am disappointed.” Thor corrected heatedly. But his ire faded quickly. With a tilt of his head he explained. “I’m disappointed in myself. And you. In your decision to remain committed to the idea of Steven Rogers, even though you are separated by the universe and no longer remember him and will likely never reunite.” 

“Whoa.” A lump formed in her throat. Tears pricked the back of her eyes. Blinking, she swallowed the urge to cry. “I didn’t say that.” Darcy reminded him. “I didn’t...That’s not...” 

His words were like a dagger to her heart, but not for the reason he probably thought. He was right, she didn’t know Steve. But she knew Maria-Sarah and Anthony, Alice’s twin sister and brother. She knew them even if she didn’t know them. They were a part of her and she a part of them. Hearing Thor say she would never reunite with them, even if it was only implied, it was the cruelest thing he could have said to her. 

Thor looked down at her with pity. “Your actions spoke the words you could not bring yourself to.” 

“No.” She refused, annoyed. “That’s not true.” 

“Then what is true?” Thor challenged. 

“I…” She looked at his chest. Where she thought his heart was. With a determination she declared. “I made this chair.” 

“You said that.” 

“I made this chair and it is now a piece of me, here.” She gestured to the room. “It makes me feel like this room is more me. More mine.”

Thor seemed confused. “And?” 

“And like you said I’ll probably be here on Asgard for a very long time.” Darcy looked down at Thor’s knees. “You said I named my other daughter Maria-Sarah. And my son Anthony and I don’t know why.” 

Darcy pillowed her arms on Thor’s thighs and laid her head down on them. Tears leaked from her eyes as she spoke. “I know I named Alice after Alice in Wonderland. I know I gave her the middle name Ozma, because I love the Wizard of Oz. But Maria-Sarah? Anthony? I can’t--I don’t even know why I named them that unless…”

“The names must hold significance to Steven.” Thor surmised. His hand came down on her head and he began to pet her comfortingly. 

“Yeah. That’s the conclusion I came to too.” She wrapped a hand around his ankle, finding comfort in the simple touch as she spoke from the heart, even if she knew it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “How can you expect me to fall in love when I have a man back on Earth waiting for me? Someone who I loved and let name two out of my three children?”

“How do you know he waits for you still?” He said softly. 

“I don’t.” Darcy found it very difficult to put into words all that she had spent the past week contemplating but she owed it to Thor to try. “But, it doesn’t matter because I don’t think I’ll ever let myself fall in love on Asgard.”

“Let yourself?” 

“Yeah I mean, with anybody.” She said, picking her head up off his legs so she could look at him as she spoke. “But especially with you.” 

“You think me an unfit match for your affection?” He asked with just a hint of vulnerability in his voice.

She choked on her words at first. “What? No!” 

Thor was practically perfect, how he could sound so unsure of himself was insane to her. Taking a breath she explained, “Thor you’re a Prince. Like a fucking Disney fairy tale _Prince_ castle included. But you’re so much more than your title. You’re a good person. Strong and powerful but also sweet and sensitive. Rich but generous…but at the same time so sexy. So handsome.” 

Thor perked up at that. 

She continued taking advantage of the moment of levity. “Like if I knew how to write a sonnet I would compose one about your abs, because te people need to know.” 

That earned her a quiet chuckle, but in an instant there was tension in the air between them. Her eyes drawn to the tiny movement, Thor licked his lips before speaking. “I find you attractive as well. Your beauty is unparalleled on this world or any other. You shine from within.” 

Darcy pulled back minutely. She could feel herself getting sucked in to it, the fantasy, but she had to stop herself. She sat back on her haunches, forcing her to look up at Thor. She met his eyes with a steady gaze. She needed him to believe her. “Alice has a father back on Earth and by your own admission I loved him. And he loved me. I can’t throw that away just because I don’t remember it. Because it was real. It still is.” 

“But not for you.” Thor said in dispute. “Not anymore.” 

“Maybe.” She acknowledged. “But I have to try don’t I? To stay faithful. To stay hopeful that one day I’ll have my memory restored and be reunited. Not only with him, but with my other children?” 

“Maybe.” Thor echoed. When he lifted his hand to her cheek in a caress, she leaned into the touch. “Maybe hope in this instant is just cruelty in disguise. Prolonging your torment needlessly.” 

It was such a temptation to take him up on his offer. To let him love her. It was especially so because as much as she loved Alice and being a mom, doing it alone was hard. Harder than she ever expected, more rewarding too, but still. It was hard. Taxing in a way life had never been for her. Her week of reflection and artistry made her face a few ugly truths about herself.

Chief among them, that she was using Thor. For money, for shelter, but other things too. Less shallow things. Things a partner or a husband, ideally Alice’s father Steve, would provide _were they on the same planet_. Like emotional support and companionship. Levity and stress relief. And most importantly unconditional love, for her and her child. Thor gave her all those things, but now that she knew he wanted more from her, it just didn’t seem fair. 

She pulled away from his gentle touch and spoke honestly. “I can’t promise to ever love you back the way you want me to. And I don’t know what to do about it.” 

“I know.” Thor responded sounding ashamed.

She spoke candidly and didn’t edit herself to preserve his feelings, he was her best friend, she had to trust that he would love despite the rejection. “And a part of me knows that falling in love with you would be easy. Because I already love you. You have such a good heart. You make me laugh. You make me feel safe. Falling for you—sometimes I worry it’s already happening. That I’m in denial. That it’s inevitable. But that’s not true. That’s just my Disney brain playing tricks on me. I mean, this whole thing is like some messed up fairy tale filled with magic and monsters and curses and impossible things. And here you are, this handsome prince who saved me…”

In a guttural tone Thor prompted her. “But?” 

“But nothing. I don’t know what else to say except you’re my best friend and I can’t imagine my life here without you.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. 

Thor clenched his jaw and his expression grew troubled, she withdrew her hand. He was debating saying something he thought might upset her, she knew it from the look on his face. “Say it.” She encouraged. “Just—whatever you’re thinking. Just say it.” 

With anger that surprised her Thor asked, “If I am so valuable to you. If I am someone you claim to love, romantically or otherwise, how could you cut me out of your life these past few days so easily? Callously stop me from spending time with Alice?” He stared at her accusingly. “Without warning or explanation.” 

“Thor I just needed time and space to--” 

He wasn’t listening. Talking over her he ranted. “I confessed my love for you and you paid me back in malice. You shut me out of your life, but what was worse than not knowing what you were thinking or doing or needed, you took Alice away as well.” The anger drained from him only to be replaced with raw vulnerability. “How could you? I’ve known her every day of her precious life. I love that child as if she was my own and I know that she is not. I know. But I love her all the same.” 

“I’m sorry.” She apologized out of habit before trying to defend herself. “I didn’t think you’d be so mad about it. I just needed some time and--”

“You could have said that!” He exploded. She stared at him, taken aback. Thor was like a tempest in more ways than one. He was loud and brash and unpredictable, it’s what made so passionate and formidable. But he reeled himself back. 

“You could have said that.” He repeated softly. “Told me that the arrangement of you avoiding me and banishing me from interacting with Alice t’was not a permanent one.” He was trying to control his anger, but all she saw was the fear fueling it underneath the surface. 

This time when she apologized it was more genuine. She rested her hand on his arm again, establishing a physical connection between them as their eyes met and she tried to convey her sincerity with words. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I did not handle this situation well. I should have communicated my intentions, what I needed, instead of leaving you in the dark this whole time. I know you love Alice. And no matter what’s going on between you and me, I would never banish you from her life. And I’m sorry I made you question that.” 

They sat like that for a while, barely touching and staring into each other eyes. It wasn’t sexually charged or anything, at least not from her perspective, but it was a moment. And it had weight.

Thor broke the tension, his eyes cutting down to the chair he sat in. She could see it in his face that he was looking for something neutral to say. He settled on, “I really do like your chair.” 

“Thank you.” 

He ran his fingertips along the armrest. With a quirk of his lips he asked, “Would you like to learn how to build one?” 

“Build? Like, with wood and stuff?” 

He had a small smile on his face as he said, “Aye. With your own two hands.” 

There wasn’t anything to consider. “Yes.” She answered. “I would like that very much.” 

He smiled brighter. And even though nothing between them was settled, she felt better for it. “Well, I would like to build Lady Alice a new crib. Perhaps that is something we could do together?” 

She nodded. “I’d like that.”   
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Darcy’s Dress  


Chair   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I heard everyone's votes on the 'no Thor/Darcy romance'. I hope this chapter showed how they fit together and how they don't and how up in the air it's all going to feel between these two for now. 
> 
> It's weird but I feel like in this story Darcy has a superpower it's just...not a good one. Her 'non-superpower superpower' is being really compatible with everyone. Her power is literally the ability to SHIP DARCY WITH ALL THE THINGS. 
> 
> So, I'm leaving the door between Thor and Darcy, open. But also hopefully showing how her past, forgotten or not, is still in play here. She knows she was in a relationship back on Earth. (she and Thor and everyone think it was a monogamous one with only Steve ) but she KNOWS someone is waiting for her. And that is going to hold her back from doing anything crazy. Whether the 'idea' of Steve works forever is an interesting thing to play with as a writer. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And if you have a comment, critique or just want to say you still hate the idea of Thor/Darcy, I would love to hear some feedback. If all goes according to plan it should be 2 more chapters (possibly 3) before we head back to EARTH for the big reunion/confrontation. I still have not decided if I am going to restore her memory AT ALL, restore it before the trip home, once she gets home, at some random point down the line. So, thoughts on this topic would be greatly appreciated. 
> 
> Either way the dramatic reunion is going to be dramatic.


	5. Chapter 5 - One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice turns One Year Old. And then we all do some crazy math.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some nerd math notes at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 5 – One 

It was Alice’s first birthday and Darcy was deep in her feelings. She was elated that her baby girl was strong and healthy and becoming more so every day, but at the same time she wanted to stop time from moving forward so Alice could be her tiny baby forever. The event also served as a cruel reminder that she had officially missed 365 days of her other children’s lives. 

And she couldn’t handle that. She did everything she could to stay busy, to keep her mind occupied, but late at night she had nothing to keep her from falling into despair. The knowledge of what she was missing back on Earth haunted her, she’d spent about a month being crabby and cranky. It felt ironic that she was more sleep deprived now, bunking with her nearly one year old daughter, than six months ago when the babe didn’t sleep through the night. 

The morning of her party Alice was being unusually defiant. She barely ate; she screamed and wailed her way through the bath Darcy had been too tired to give her the previous night, they didn’t go to breakfast on time and being off the normal routine was something Alice hated. She didn’t know what kind of voodoo internal clock Alice was working with, but she got hella grumpy when things went off the rails. So basically, it was the morning from hell. 

A knock at the door signaled Thor’s arrival and the sound was like a life preserver to the drowning in motherhood woman. “Darcy? Are you dressed?” 

“Yes.” She answered. Letting out a grunt of frustration she spit out the words. “Come in.” 

She remained at the bed where a fussy Alice was not cooperating with getting dressed. She muttered as the baby cried and flailed her arm trying to resist putting it in the hole of her dress like Darcy wanted. “Stay still.” The baby let out an ear splitting wail and Darcy winced. It was like a knife to her eardrums. Taking a deep breath she forced her voice into a cheery tone. “Aw, Alice, c’mon. Give mommy a fucking break.” 

In response her daughter managed to wiggle the only arm out of the dress Darcy had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to coax her into. She whined pitifully at the ceiling. “Why?” 

Her daughter had no mercy and continued to cry aggravating Darcy’s growing head ache. She hung her head in shame and defeat; she could hear Thor approaching her from behind her. His footfalls were soft and tentative, like he was assessing the situation before determining how to help. _Or maybe he was contemplating running away._

A warm large hand at her back had her wanting to cry, just out of pure frustration. “I don’t know what to do.” 

“Let me try?” Thor offered. She moved away and threw herself into the vanity chair. 

“She hates the dress your mother sent over.” She said as an excuse for her failure. 

Queen Frigga had sent over a long white lacey frilly gown that went two feet past Alice’s legs. It came with a bonnet and booties and while her daughter looked angelic in it, it was entirely unpractical and the material was stiffer than what the baby was used to. Darcy wouldn’t have tried to force Alice into it except it was a gift and the Queen had specifically requested she wear it to the party. If Thor hadn’t come in when he had, Darcy was pretty sure she would have started crying.

“Come now little one.” Thor picked up her diapered daughter and rested her against his massive chest. “Come now. Quiet down. You are alright. Everything is alright. Shhhh. Shhhhh.” 

Softly he rubbed her back and soothed Alice’s cries. It only took him two minutes. Three tops. Irrationally, she resented Thor and his ability to calm her daughter after she herself failed to do so. But the flash of resentment was brief and then there was only relief…and maybe a teensy weensy bit of bitterness. 

Bouncing the baby a little he grinned braggingly at her. “See there? All is well now.” 

She attempted to deflate his ego by reminding him of the real problem. “Yeah, now that you’ve given into her.” Thor looked at her confused. With a sigh she explained, “She can’t go to her big party in just her diaper, Thor. She needs to get dressed.” 

“Then let us dress her in something else in the mean time?” Thor said quietly, his eyes roved over the long white gown his mother had picked out. The slight curl of his lip in derision made her smile. At least he thought it was garish and over the top too. 

Thor looked up at her with a conspiratorial grin. “We can wait until she is drowsy for her mid-morning nap and then dress her when she is asleep.” 

That was a good plan actually. “Okay.” She agreed. “Good idea.” She felt stupid for not thinking of it herself, but chalked it up to her lack of sleep and tried to let it go. 

With a grunt, Darcy left the chair and retrieved the dress she had originally wanted her daughter to wear on her birthday. It was one she had commissioned by a local seamstress to evoke Alice’s namesake, even if she was the only one who would get the reference. The dress was sleeveless and made of a thin breathable material; it was light blue with a little white apron on the front. 

Still annoyed that she needed Thor to swoop in and save the day she threw the garment at Thor’s head. Deftly he caught the dress with one hand. She muttered as she went to retrieve her own shoes. “Show off.”

When Thor finished getting Alice dressed with no further incident the three of them set off to have breakfast with his parents. She let Thor hold Alice as they walked, she was content in his arms and she didn’t want to ruin the peace. She comforted herself by stopping every few feet to pet and coo at Chip who trotted along with them faithfully. He deserved the attention though. He was a good dog and, after all it was kind of his birthday too.  
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What with Darcy’s exhaustion and mixed feelings over the birthday of her triplets, early on in the process she’d relinquished all the party planning to the Queen. She’d insisted that they host the party outside and requested no one go over the top with their gift giving, but other than that she’d let Frigga run ‘hog wild’ in planning the celebration. It was no surprise to her when only one of her two requests was actually respected. 

Around noon Thor and she snuck away to feed and then change Alice into her long white party gown. She was a little less resentful that Thor’s suggestion worked like a charm when she saw the end results of their plotting. Alice looked adorable in the bonnet and booties. The gown was still a bit too ostentatious for her tastes but she couldn’t deny how sweet her daughter looked soundly sleeping in Thor’s arms. 

They were met at the gates to the palace by her two closest female friends in all of Asgard, Sif and Gudy, Volstagg’s wife. Queen Frigga had been very secretive about the whole event, only going as far to tell Darcy to wear comfortable shoes as the trek to the party site would apparently take half an hour. Her friends would be their guides for the walk. 

“Oh doesn’t she look as sweet as pie!” Gudy cried out upon seeing them. 

“Shhh.” Sif said quickly, “She is sleeping.” 

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Sif, don’t worry. Alice drank an entire boob’s worth of milk and Thor kept her very stimulated this morning so she would stay passed out until party time. It’s okay. You can talk normal.” 

“Aye.” Thor agreed. “Alice is a very sound sleeper for one so young.” 

Gudy moved forward and linked her arm in Darcy’s. The woman was warmth and happiness personified, she couldn’t help but laugh as her friend said, “Well, then what are we waiting for? We have a babe to celebrate!” 

With a sweep of her hand she gestured forward. “Lead the way.”  
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Sif and Gudy took them to the edge of the city where the forest border was. They followed a trail marked by flowered garland along the dirt floor. It took them a while to reach their destination, but the closer they got the more familiar the area became to her. 

There was a gold archway blocking their way to the giant clearing Darcy knew to be just beyond their reach. It was guarded by one large man and several children.

“You are here!” Volstagg cried out joyfully. “Thank goodness, sentry duty was driving the kids crazy!”  
He had several children climbing him like a mountain but despite the protest he didn’t seem too annoyed by it. 

Volstagg shook his child covered leg at his wife, trying to dislodge his second youngest daughter, Astrid, from her perch. “I have been overrun without you, my love. Please take pity and free me from my child internment.”

“Never!” Cheered the young girl wrapped around his leg. This caused the boy attached to his other leg, Tuck, to cry out enthusiastically. “Huzzah! Victory is ours!” 

“A fine warrior you turned out to be.” Gudy chuckled at the sight of them. Darcy had met Volstagg and Gudy’s four youngest children before, but the party would be the first time she met all eight of them as his oldest boys no longer lived at home. 

“Hey guys.” Darcy said with a wave.

Simultaneously the children called out to her in greeting. “Good afternoon Lady Darcy.” “Hello.” “Hi!” “Yay! You’re here!”

Gudy shook her head mournfully. “Taken down by four children not yet of age, husband? However will you live with the shame?” 

With a pout Volstagg defended. “Of age or not, I was out numbered.” 

“And we worked together.” The oldest boy, Lamont, boasted from his place wrapped around his father’s left arm.

Ever the charming diplomat, Thor came to his friends rescue. “Who of these fine warriors would like to be the first to greet the sleeping princess? It is her births day we gather to celebrate is it not?” 

“Oh, yeah!” Astrid exclaimed, quickly unwrapping herself from her father’s leg she got to her feet. “The baby is here too.” 

“Yes.” Lamont followed after his younger sister, calling out gleefully. “And Chip!” 

Tuck, still wrapped around Volstagg’s leg scoffed. “Baby? Who cares. I don’t see why everyone makes a big deal about Alice all the time. Saffy’s still a baby too.” 

The little girl atop Volstagg’s shoulders took umbrage with her brothers assertion. “Am not a BABY!” Glaring down at him from her seat atop her father’s shoulders she screeched. “You know I turned two-fifty-twos last month.” 

Looking up at his sister Tuck stuck out his tongue then readjusted his grip on his father’s leg. 

“Hi Thor!” Astrid said breezily as she and Lamont crowded around the man as he got down on one knee so the children could see Alice. “Aww.” The girl exclaimed, “She is soooo cute. Look at her little eyelashes!”

Her brother smiled down at her daughter for what he probably thought was an appropriate amount of time before diverting his attention to what really had him running over to greet them so eagerly. Chip barked happily as Lamont lavished attention upon him, petting him and cooing at him. “Hi good boy! Hi Chip. How are you? Do you remember me? Remember when we made friends? Are you hungry? Want to take a walk?” Lamont looked up at her beseechingly, “Can I take Chip for a walk Lady Darcy?” 

Before she could respond Astrid lightly kicked her brother in a chastising manner. “Do not be rude Lamont.” The girl, Astrid was so mature beyond her years. She stared down at Alice with a wistful expression. “She’s so little. And she looks so pretty in her little gown, almost like a doll!” 

Astrid looked over at her little sister who still sat stubbornly atop her father’s shoulders. “I remember when Saffy was that little. She used to let me dress her up and play with her hair.” The girl sighed then made eye contact with her. Pouting she informed her, “It all goes downhill after they learn how to talk you know.” 

The adults all laughed at that. Thor got back to his feet and smiled over at Darcy. “We shall keep that in mind young Astrid. Thank you for the warning.” 

“Time to get down.” Volstagg said as he gripped Saffy’s hips and tried to yank her off his shoulders. His daughter cried out in protest. 

“Nooooooo!” Holding on tight to her father’s face she whined. “I like being taller than Thor!” Cheerfully, she then waved at the God in question. “Hi Thor!” 

From down by Volstagg’s leg, Tuck, once again scoffed at his little sister. “Stupid baby. You can’t be taller than Thor. He is the tallest there is! And the strongest and the mightiest. And the best warrior prince ever.” 

“Nuh-uh.” Saffy disagreed. “Sif’s the best warrior. Mommy said so. ..And Uncle Thor that one time after she beat him at hide and go seek.” 

“Did she now?” Volstagg glared at his wife playfully. “Do none of my children think, _me_ , the best warrior ever?” He looked down at Tuck on his leg, raising his brow in challenge. “Have I truly lost the respect of my family so easily to the Prince and his inflated reputation?”

“Of course not father.” Astrid said, turning away from the baby to prance back over to her dad. She hugged him around the middle, her brother Lamont hot on her heels.

“Of course not father.” Lamont parroted, hugging his sister from behind and barely getting his hands on his father. The two grinned up at their dad and he smiled down at them with a grateful expression. 

“Glad to know some of my children know the meaning of loyalty.” He said, petting Astrid’s hair. 

Tuck rolled his eyes and unceremoniously let go of his father’s leg, only to lay flat on his back, staring up at Volstagg’s face as he spoke. “I am just as loyal as they are father. I was just joking. Of course I think you are the best warrior.” He did a somersault backward and got to his feet smoothly. Winking at his father the boy asserted. “You’re just not as ‘cool’ as Thor.” 

The boy looked over at her nervously. “Lady Darcy, did I use that word right? ‘Cool.’”

Darcy stifled the urge to laugh at Tuck’s audaciousness; she’d spent some time with Volstagg’s kids in the past few months. On accident, she had started an afterschool arts program of sorts. It had been born of her continued experimentation to find a hobby/skill/talent that brought her joy and made her feel fulfilled as a person outside of being a mother. 

On the heels of their first fight, Thor had a stained glass Solarium built to function as her ‘own space’ on the edge of the palace gardens. The structure had been of her design, but Thor and a few others had brought it to fruition. It was so _different_ and colorful that many in the city had initially come by just to see what it was and why it had been built.

Some of those looky-loo’s were the youngsters of Asgard. Her sanctum became a clubhouse for all the pre-teens, of which there was only like 20. And, before she knew it she was leading groups of children to be creative and messy and have fun trying out whatever she was doing. Be it painting with her hair, filling hollowed out eggs with paint so she could smash them onto a canvas, or playing air guitar.

Also on accident she had imparted some of her ‘Midgardian-isms’ upon the children and now had to intermittently field questions from parent’s about the new slang their children were using. She approached the mischievous Tuck and hugged him into her side. “If you meant to imply that Thor is more fun and awesome than your dad, then yes. You used the word ‘cool’ correctly.”

Sif and Gudy snickered at Tuck’s antics, while Thor barked a laugh that had baby Alice stirring awake in his arms. Lamont and Astrid rushed to assure Volstagg that they thought he was the ‘coolest’ and ‘way cooler than Thor’. Loudly still atop her father’s shoulders Saffy screamed excitedly. “THE BABY’S WAKING UP! THAT MEANS THE PARTY CAN START FOR REAL!” 

The little girl then kicked her father’s chest with her heels like he was a pony. “Yah, daddy! Yah! We’ve gotta tell the Queen so she’ll let us eat the foods now! YAH!” 

“She is right you know.” Sif said with a smirk. “The Queen will have all of our heads if we do not let her know the guest of honor has finally arrived and awoken.” 

This seemed to set everyone in motion. Volstagg and Saffy, at the head of the pack, led them all into the clearing where the party was to be held. At the back of the group, Tuck sidled up to her. 

Quietly so none of the others could hear, he whispered. “Lady Darcy? You know I think you are _the_ coolest. Right?”

“Even cooler than Thor?” She questioned with a skeptical expression. 

The boy’s eyes flickered over to the man who was cooing happily at Alice, rousing her further with his attentions and boisterous manner. His eyes cut back to her. “Definitely.” 

She huffed a laugh and patted the boy on the back encouragingly. “I’m honored.” 

Tuck’s gaze averted to the ground and she watched as the tips of his ears turned pink. “And. Uh. You look nice, today.” His voice rose several octaves in his nervousness. “I mean, you always look—but. For the party. You look, especially nice.” 

“Tuck?” 

“Yeah?” His head snapped up and he looked at her with such earnestness, she felt her swell with pride. 

“Thank you.” She smiled at him sincerely. “That’s the nicest thing someone’s said to me all day.” 

“You’re welcome!” He chirped brightly, a little more pep in his step. 

Tuck was a troublemaker on most days, but he had a good heart. Still, she knew for a fact he was always the first suspect whenever something went wrong or the children misbehaved. People had referred to him as a ‘Loki re-incarnate’ on more than one occasion, and on those occasions they did not say it with affection as she had witnessed Thor doing. She was of the opinion the kid didn’t often receive the benefit of the doubt or positive attention from anyone outside his family or Thor, and now her. 

Still, it was clear her efforts to treat him with kindness had resulted in a crush and she found it amusing to no end. Whenever she was around he was on his best behavior. His mother liked to joke that she had bewitched him or something, but really she’d just befriended him. As she had most of the children who came to her solarium looking for a place to hang out and experiment and try to figure out who they were without judgment. 

Still, when she looked at Tuck or Saffy or any of Volstagg’s children she felt a great swell of longing for her own children, the one’s stuck back on Earth. With affection she mussed Tuck’s hair and he ducked his head trying to evade her but not moving away. 

“Stop.” Tuck said with a smile in his voice. 

“No.” She refuted, messing the kids hair up even more.  
.  
.  
.

Tables of food lined the clearing on two sides; a long bank of empty tables lined the other two creating a square, but they left a large gap so people could weave in and out at will. In the middle of the space was one of earlier art experiments from her pre-clubhouse days. 

A series of tree stumps with mirrors attached. 

She’d created the ‘art instillation’ on a whim when she stumbled upon the tree stumps while on a walk. She’d enlisting Sif and Hogun’s help to acquire materials and figure out the math of it all and together they’d attached mirror like glass to the stumps. She’d been inspired by Alice’s fascination with the tall trees. And a little bit by “The Lorax” and “The Giving Tree” books. Creating something beautiful out of the depressing looking stumps had just seemed like the thing to do. 

And the mirrors helped reflect the nature all around making it seem like they weren’t cut down at all, just stuck in another dimension or something, a mirror dimension. When she’d told Sif and Hogun the idea behind her art, they’d told her the wood had been used to make boats, so technically they were still in this dimension. 

It turned out real pretty though. 

Upon entering the official ‘party area’ Frigga had brought them to the mirrored stumps and had them stand on them. There were a lot more people in attendance than she would have guessed.  
On the verge of freaking out, Thor seem to sense her distress. 

“Just smile.” He encouraged as he handed over her daughter. He pressed a kiss to the baby’s nose and then one to hers. “They are all here to celebrate the life you created, not cause you distress.” 

Looking around at the sea of people Darcy realized she recognized many of them. There was the wood carver, the paint merchant, the baker, several of the kids and their families whom she’d come to know since inviting people to check out her Solarium. Since exploring her interests she’d become a frequent face in the market and she saw many of the shopkeepers she’d befriended during her outings. 

She smiled at Thor. “You’re right.” 

He puffed out his chest. “Of course I am.”

Still, it was a lot of people. Darcy poked Thor in the gut, still smiling. “But I hope you don’t expect me to make a speech or anything.” 

“Only if you want to dear.” Frigga assured her as she came to stand next to her son. 

Standing up a little straighter, Thor called everyone to attention and the crowd quieted down. 

Frigga made a speech first. It was flattering and somewhat abstract, she spoke about celebrating life and love and embracing the unexpected gifts that fate granted you. Next, Thor took his turn. He spoke of Alice’s loveliness, her cheerful disposition, and beautiful soul. Then he made intense eye contact with her and vowed his unending love for Alice _and_ family. Frigga jumped in just when the heated look was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. 

“And we would be remiss if we did not admit that over the past year, Lady Darcy and Alice have become like family. Not only to Thor, but to myself and our King.” Like he was waiting for his cue, Odin then emerged from the crowd. 

A pure white pony trotting along after him. 

“Lady Alice of Midgard.” Odin declared in a serious tone. “On this the anniversary of your birth, I gift to you a steed worthy of your destiny. You have brought joy back to my home after we have suffered much sorrow.”

Like his son before him, Odin then shifted his eye to meet hers. She swallowed as the weight and emotion in his eye and expression hit her full force. Love radiated from him, to her. 

“I thank you for coming into our lives.” He said in a softer voice, as if he was speaking just to her and not the entire crowd. “You have given me hope and in return I aim to give you all that a father would ever want for a daughter.”

The pony shook its head and slowly, two wings emerged from its torso. The pony stretched its wings out as if it was yawning, before returning them to their place hidden against its torso, looking once again like a normal pony. The crowd erupted into shocked whispers. 

“Holy shit.” Darcy cursed. 

“Father, a Pegasus?” Thor asked with wide eyes. Darcy was well aware that the creatures she thought mythical, actually existed on Asgard.

Thor had been teaching her to ride a horse properly and one day after complaining about her ass hurting for maybe, the hundredth time, he’d thought to shut her up by showing her something magical. 

He’d taken her to a set of stables which were off limits to all but a limited few. He’d revealed to her that the mythical creatures were bred and trained out of tradition, but never ridden. To ride a Pegasus was forbidden, but, he delighted in telling her, it wasn’t always.

Apparently the Pegasus were reserved for the elite warriors known as the Valkyries, all of whom had fallen in battle long ago. While he showed her the Pegasi, she could see the longing and admiration written all over Thor’s face. He’d never ridden one, but it was obvious that he wanted to. 

There was a glint of amusement in Odin’s one eye as he said, “Yes. It is a Pegasus.” 

When she’d pressed Thor about the true definition of ‘forbidden’ and made some jokes about sneaking in and taking the pretty black one for a joy ride he’d shut her down sternly. He’d said to steal a Pegasus or ride one without permission was one of the more severe crimes one could commit on Asgard. She’d been disappointed to learn that not even his mischievous brother Loki had ever dared tempt their father’s ire by breaking this most divine of decrees. 

“Father?” Thor said sounding shocked and a little angry. “You cannot…but you said…” 

Drawn to the animal like a moth to a flame, Darcy moved forward, pawning her daughter off to Thor as she passed him. He followed close behind her, practically walking in her footsteps. In a demanding tone he asked. “Did you know about this?” 

With a snort she responded, “Dude, I’m like 65 percent sure I’m having a lucid dream.” 

Holding out a hand to the horse’s nose, the pony sniffed at her experimentally. Letting out a gentle ‘neigh’ the pony pawed at the ground then pressed his nose into her chest. She took that as a green light to start petting. Using slow telegraphed movement, she reached and let her hand glide from its mane down to its wings. She smiled as her hand made contact with the downy feathers, they were softer than any she’d ever touched before. 

“Hello, my little pony.” She whispered to the Pegasus. 

“She is petting it!”  
“What does this mean? Is Lady Darcy a Valkyrie?”  
“I cannot believe this.”  
“Is he mad?”  
“Is she really a witch like they say?”  
“Look how red in the face Prince Thor is!”  
“Could she be any more beguiling?”  
“I have never even seen one in person.”  
“This is amazing!”  
“Wow, this is the most exciting one year old births day party in a thousand years.” 

The whispering crowd around them grew in volume; some of the things they were saying weren’t so nice but it was clear that disbelief was chief feeling among the peoples. Anxiety bloomed in her heart. The words ‘privileged’ and ‘jealousy’ lit up in her brain. Odin’s gift was too big, too much.

As if sensing the shifting mood the pony grew agitated, shaking off her hand it backed up several steps, it’s nostrils flared and panic in its eyes. Odin was by her side in a second. 

“Steady.” He counseled. Petting the animals flank with a calm hand he demonstrated the proper way to take control of the situation. He grabbed her hand and put it back to the Pegasus. He guided her movement into a steady soothing caress. “Like the babe, this beast knows your heart without the exchanging of words.” 

She took her eyes off the creature so she could look at his face. He explained. “You must not be subject to influence so easily. Be strong girl. Steady on.”

Tuning out the crowd around her she tried to push all the negativity from her mind and heart. When Odin moved away she felt a stab of panic, but Thor took his place and she felt better for it. His shoulder brushed up against her own as she resumed petting the Pegasus by herself.

Wrapping his arm around his wife, Odin encouraged her. “That’s it.” Amusement bled into his tone as he teased his son. “In case you hadn’t noticed, now’s your chance boy.” 

Thor’s hand joined hers on the pony’s flank. “This is amazing.” Thor awed. “I cannot believe I am finally worthy. After all this time.” 

“Technically, you will never be worthy.” Odin said. Darcy’s eyes shot over to his face. He looked tickled. “Only a woman warrior may ride a Pegasus, that will never change.” 

She looked over at her daughter still held securely in Thor’s arms, then back to Odin. 

“And that’s what you think Alice is going to grow up to be?” She questioned, slight annoyance in her voice at his presumption. “A warrior?” 

“I see greatness in her future.” Odin said evasively. 

“Gee whiz, could you _be_ more of a fortune cookie.” She muttered under her breath. Shifting her attention back to the pony she ran her hand down the bridge of the horse’s nose. The action caused the animal to shiver in delight and then let out a neigh that had her jumping in surprise. In Thor’s arms Alice clapped her hands and shook her feet excitedly. And then she did something so shocking that even Odin looked flabbergasted. 

“Neigh!” The baby said, mimicking the Pegasus. 

It was her first word.

Darcy’s eyes went wide; she turned away from the amazing mythical creature and stared at her baby in wonder. “Did you hear that?” Looking up at Thor she found him mouth agape. “Did you hear that!” 

Leaning forward she nuzzled Alice’s face with her own. “Alice baby, say it again!” 

Whether she understood what Darcy was asking for or just enjoyed the reaction she got from her mother, the baby shouted out again, loud and clear. “Neigh!”

“Her first word.” Frigga said sounding teary. 

Gleefully, Alice used her chubby little hands to grab onto Darcy’s face. Uncaring of the sting, she let her daughter slap at her cheeks as she repeated the word over and over. “Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!”

“Like I said,” Odin proclaimed. “A steed worthy of her destiny.”  
.  
.  
.  
After Odin’s mic drop Pegasus moment, Frigga signaled to have Darcy’s ipod turned on and music began to play. It was from her ‘study music playlist’ and she couldn’t help but laugh as the instrumental theme for the movie Jurassic Park began to play. Her life was insane and only getting weirder as time went on, but she was beginning to truly love it. 

Odin led the Pegasus away from the still gossiping and titillated crowd, while Frigga took control and started ushering guests to the food, stopping to chat and field questions every five steps. Darcy and her nearest and dearest retired to a table as well. 

There were plates of gorgeous looking and delicious smelling food set out in front of them, but the first thing she reached for was a large tankard of mead. Drinking deeply from the cup her eyes flickered back to Alice. Her mind was so blown she didn’t even know what to freak out about first. 

As Darcy put down her cup with a gasp, Gudy stole baby Alice from Thor’s arms. The woman seemed to content to coo at her and try to get her to say more words like ‘mama’ or ‘Thor’ or ‘yes’ or ‘cake’, but Alice said only the one word, “Neigh!” 

Eating heartily, Hogun and Fandral lamented how lame their birthday gifts would seem in comparison to the Kings. Totally ignoring the food, Volstagg’s children badgered him about getting their own Pegasus ponies. In response Volstagg ignored them, losing himself in the pleasure of the food.

Darcy herself was a little shell shocked and could do little more than stare at the oozing apple desert thing on her plate. And from the look on Thor’s face, he was in the same boat. 

“How the hell did you get the old man to do that?!” Sif demanded as she and Heimdall came to join them at the table.

“I had nothing to do with it.” Thor said sounding dazed. 

“I cannot believe it! I have been after Odin for years, literally years, to let me train and ride as the Valkyries of old once did.” She stared across the table, glaring at Alice. “And when he finally changes his mind, he anoints a baby? She’s not even Aesir.” 

“I do not think that matters.” An unfamiliar man said as he came up from behind Sif. He was handsome and tall, but there was something about his charming face that set her on edge. He felt like a man who as likely to be cruel as he was to be kind. 

“Magnar!” Volstagg cried out, jumping to his feet. “Come here m’boy!” 

As the two men embraced Darcy realized that the man was Volstagg’s oldest son, despite the man looking to be about the same age as Thor. Magnar, she recognized the name as Volstagg’s first born son, whom at first, they believed would be their only son. 

In confidence Gudy told her of how her large brood of children had come to be. It was a pulling-out ‘accident’ which lead Gudy to become pregnant for the second time. And when that child, Kirbie, had been borne healthy and without issue, they tried again 304 years later. After their third child, Volstagg and Gudy realized they were not like the other Asgardians who struggled to have one successful pregnancy. They were blessed. And they kept getting blessed, one child after another. 

“Mother.” The man said smoothly as he moved to kiss Gudy’s cheek. He then mussed the hair of his younger brothers, before pinching the side of Astrid and picking up Saffy and throwing her high in the sky. “Ah, my annoying younger siblings. My how ugly you’ve all grown.” 

He pet the top of Astrid’s head lovingly. “Especially you.” 

“You are a man grown now Magnar.” Astrid rolled her eyes and pushed off his hand. “You should not be so ridiculous.” 

Fixing his hair from his brothers ministrations, Tuck glared at his brother. “You could just say hi like a normal person.” 

“Yes,” Magnar agreed, “But then I wouldn’t get to see that delightful pinched look on your face.” 

Thor rose and mechanically clapped the man on the back, ending the sibling’s verbal sparring match. 

“Magnar, good to see you again.” He looked the man up and down and Darcy was once again weird-ed out by how similar in age the men were. “You look well.” 

“I am well.” He replied, his eyes sliding over to her before he finished addressing his Prince. He smiled at her handsomely, “And it is a pleasure to meet the mother of a future Valkyrie, Lady Darcy, I am Magnar. First son of Volstagg, the Lion of Asgard.” 

At the same time she said, “Alice is not going to be a Valkyrie.” Fandral snorted into his cup, “Lion of Asgard.” 

Volstagg’s son stared at her in confusion. “Alice is destined to ride a Pegasus. She is to be a Valkyrie. The All Father said as much. Did no one to you explain its significance?” 

“Odin may be the ‘All Father’ but he’s not _my_ father. I don’t have to do what he says and neither does my daughter. Besides, I thought it was the Norns job to hand out destiny and crap.” She knew she was scowling, that the expression added lines to her face that were unflattering, but she couldn’t help it. “When she grows up Alice can be whatever she wants to be. And frankly, ‘destiny’ can go fuck itself.” 

“Language.” Gudy reprimanded with a wince, next to her Saffy’s face lit up.

Pointing at Darcy the child declared loudly. “OOOOOh. You said a bad word!” 

“Whoops.” Chagrin, Darcy declared. “My bad.” 

“Children!” Magnar said dramatically, obviously trying to change the subject with flair. “Come with me if you wish to do battle and sow mischief most,-” he paused for dramatic effect, “-hilarious.” 

“I’m eating.” Lamont said with a full mouth of apple-ooze. “Battle ‘ater.”

“Ah,” Magner said raising one finger to his chin, “But as you know our brother Kirbie is in pursuit of his lady loves affection. Without our intervention he will make advances and secure her attentions sans embarrassment. If we do not act swiftly, why she will never know of the time he got his head stuck in the fence. Nor of the time his pants were stolen by brother Tuck, and he was forced to walk home adorned with strategically placed leaves and a full body blush.” 

“Say no more. I’m in.” Tuck said, shoving in one more spoonful a pie before getting to his feet. “Kirbie’s unbearable when he gets all sappy.” 

Jumping up on the bench Saffy declared raising her hand. “I want to go be annoying!” She then launched herself at her eldest brother. With a smile he caught her easily. 

“I knew I could count on you two.” Magner said. He shot his other siblings a challenging pointed look. “And you?” 

Lamont gave Astrid a pleading look before she rolled her eyes. “Okay. Fine.” With a grin the pair got to their feet. Still holding Saffy in his arms Magner led his siblings away to cause havoc with Kirbie’s love life. 

“That seems like it’ll end well.” Fandral commented as he sucked on a spoon thoughtfully. 

With her elbow Darcy nudged Thor. “Hmm?” 

In a lowered voice she asked, “Why do you and Magner look like you’re the same age? How can he be Volstagg’s son when he’s barely younger than him?” 

Thor’s face grew solemn. “As a boy Magner was stranded in another realm where time moved differently. He was only lost to us for a few days, but for him it was years.” His eyes flickered over to Gudy who was cleaning of Alice’s face with a napkin. 

“In truth Volstagg and Gudy did not get to raise him as they should have. It was tragic. He had to transition from boy to man without their influence, it made him strong and smart and resilient for which they grateful, but also in so many ways it made him a stranger to them. The knowledge of what they had lost them much grief. That’s why when Kirbie was born it was so much more than just a blessing. It was a miracle, a second chance to--”

Recognizing the parallels to her own situation, Thor’s words stopped abruptly. He stared at her with wide eyes, his mouth open as if he was searching for words that would not come. 

“Oh.” She said simply, reaching for her cup she took a long gulp. And then another. And another.  
.  
.  
.  
At one point Darcy left Alice in the capable care of the King and Queen, and everyone broke off to mingle. After maybe one tankard of mead too many, she grew morose. Not wanting to get dragged into conversation she wandered to the edge of the forest. She found Heimdall, alone near the wagon where all of baby Alice’s gifts were being deposited for the time being (with the exception of the Pegasus pony). He was standing by the back of the wagon, a wrapped box in his hands.

“Whatcha doing?” She asked, announcing herself.

Heimdall gave her a grin. “Looking for an appropriate place to put my gift for, Lady Alice. It is delicate and I do not wish it to break.” 

“Gimmie.” She held out her hands beseechingly. The second he handed over the box she yanked on the strings of ribbon that held it closed. Her unmethodical approach caused a knot to form and the tighter she pulled the more the knot, knotted. She had to resort to using her teeth to rip it open.

Glancing at Heimdall she found him amused not appalled by her uncouth behavior and smiled proudly as she got the box open. There was a little latch, she lifted it and peered inside. 

“Oh my—Heimdall!” She exclaimed as she pulled out a glass figurine. Shoving the empty box into Heimdall’s chest she examined the piece more closely. It was a delicate sculpture of a Pegasus midflight. It was mostly made of clear glass but its wings and mane and tail were all tinted yellow. “It’s beautiful.” 

“I thought you might like it.” The man grinned proudly. “Hopefully Lady Alice will as well.” 

Staring at the gift she began to feel weepy. Looking up she watched as the smile fell from the dark skinned man’s face. “Is something wrong?” 

“Alice got a magical Pegasus pony for her first birthday.” She said despondently. “She’s living in a palace, doted on by royalty. By Gods! Showered with gifts and affection the likes of which I couldn’t have dreamed.” She grabbed the box from his hands and carefully stuffed the glass Pegasus back inside.

“And this saddens you?” He asked, looking for clarification. 

She jumped up and sat on the back of the wagon. “It saddens me that I don’t know anything about my other children. I hope—I wish. If I could, I would be there for them like I am for Alice. But that’s not possible. I just, I’m their mom too and sometimes I feel like a failure because I should know what kind of presents they got for their birthday. I should know what their first words are…at the very least I should know what they look like.”

“When their birthdays occur, I could tell you what gifts they receive.” Heimdall offered, “And as for what they look like. Your son, Anthony, he his chubby. Well fed, with a round face and a straight nose. His lips a full like yours. He has dark brows and a fluffy tuft of dark hair on his head. Your daughter, Maria-Sarah, she is Alice’s twin. Identical twin, you need only look at her to see Maria-Sarah.” 

She felt like a bucket of water had been dumped over her head. “Identical twins?!” She exclaimed. “Did I know this!? I mean, I knew they were twins but--How did I not know this until now?”

“It is only now that I know what Alice looked like at two months that I am able to identify that her twin looks identical.” 

That didn’t make sense. Or maybe she was drunker than she thought. “What?” She asked. 

Heimdall leaned against the back of the wagon, a burdened expression on his face. “Lady Darcy, I do not believe we—I have not explained what has happened as a result of the destruction of the Bifrost.”

“Elaborate.” She demanded. She did not like his tone.

“The Bifrost was a bridge, between Asgard and the other realms. It made travel between the space and time that separates our realm and others, nearly instantaneous.” 

“Okay.” She said prompting. “I’m following.” 

“Asgard…is not a planet merely far away from your own. We exist in our own dimension, a closed ecosystem if you like. The Bifrost bridged our dimensions, making mingling, possible. With it gone now, we can no longer run in parallel to the timeline of your home world.” 

She could not comprehend what he was saying. “I don’t get it.” 

With a heavy sigh, Heimdall took up her hand and held it gently in her own, like he was about to break some terrible news. “Time moves more quickly here than it does on Earth. That does not matter as much to us, Asgardians are long lived. But you. The time difference between Asgard and Midgard runs at a 1 to 5 ratio. Approximately.”

Darcy felt nauseous. Heimdall patted the back of her hand with his free one. “But, you should not worry Lady Darcy. You will not perceive the difference here, no more than you could feel your earth rotate and revolve around your sun.” 

She gripped his hand tightly. “1 to 5 ratio? Of what to what?”

“One year on Midgard is equal to five years on Asgard.” What he was saying didn’t make any sense. Or she wasn’t smart enough to understand it. 

“I…” One thought stood out among the millions of things running through her mind. “That’s wonderful.” 

Heimdall’s eyebrows rose high onto his forehead. “It is?” 

She stared into his eyes and felt a rubbery smile slide into place on her face. “Yes! Don’t you see?” A tear rolled down her cheek. “When I go home, my babies will still be babies. I don’t have to miss everything! Even if it..even if it takes a while to get home. I’ll--I won’t miss everything. I’ll be old, but they’ll still be _young_. Right?” 

“Right.” Heimdall repeated, saying the words with such pity. Like she was a fool for thinking a thing like that was possible. “When you go home.” 

She decided to push all the life shattering thoughts to the side and focus on the good, turning to Heimdall more fully she put a hand on his shoulder. “So today is not Maria-Sarah and Anthony’s first birthday?” 

“Not yet.” He confirmed. “I cannot be sure how far behind they are, I can only see them not hear them, but it has to be months at least. They are both so tiny.” 

Another tear fell from her eyes. “And their safe?” 

“They are. And well loved, by the looks of it.” Heimdall confirmed. 

Overwhelmed, Darcy threw herself at Heimdall’s chest hugging him tightly. “Thank you.” 

He hugged her back tentatively. “I have done nothing.” 

“You’ve given me hope.” She cried quietly. “And that means everything.”  
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It took her a little while to compose herself. But after that, arm in arm, Heimdall escorted her back to the party. 

She found that her ‘dance party playlist’ was playing on the ipod and in the center of the clearing, around her mirrored tree stumps people were dancing animatedly. She was proud of how well her ‘Midgardian Music Appreciation’ crusade was going. She’d blasted tunes while shopping long enough to change a few minds, but this was more than she’d ever expected to see. 

Volstagg’s children seemed to be leading the charge in booty shaking like no one’s watching, but some of the older people were also jumping about to Ricky Martins “Livin’ La Vida Loca”, equally uninhibited. It was kind of hilarious because try as they might everyone seemed to be slightly off beat, they weren’t used to the quick tempo of her modern music. 

Surveying the scene, Odin first caught her eye. He was sitting at the table, supervising a now stripped down to her diaper Alice, go face first into a plain looking cake. At first her heart lurched in her chest, thinking she’d missed the blowing out of the candles, but then she remembered that it wasn’t a tradition here on Asgard. If it was celebrating someone like Saffy who looked 6 years old but in actuality 252 years old would be a pretty big fire hazard. 

Off to the side of Odin, Frigga seemed to be holding court. She didn’t know if they were wannabe’s or suck ups or really enthralled by whatever the Queen was saying, but a handful of people surrounded her at the table and they looked to be hanging on her every words. Magnar, Volstagg’s weirdly old son, was among her entourage. Frigga held out her cup and he filled it for her, laughing. For the first time since she met him, the smile on his face seemed genuine. 

At the back table she saw Hogun and Sif laughing and drinking, while a little ways away from them Volstagg and Gudy made out like teenagers. She suspected it was that kind of behavior that must have driven the kids to the dance floor in the first place. Speaking of, she spied Fandral with a lady under each arm, spinning each woman about artfully. He looked like he was having fun. 

She wanted in on that. 

“Want to dance?” She asked Heimdall. 

He looked fearfully at the people moving with abandon on the improvised dance floor. “I am unaccustomed to this manner of dancing. I doubt I would make a good partner.”

“It’s just butt shaking to the beat big guy.” She said cajolingly. “I’m sure you could handle it.” 

Announcing himself by whispering in her ear ‘boo’ Thor surprised her and made her jump. 

“Ah!” Turning she swat at his chest. “Don’t do that!” 

He grinned unrepentantly. “I am a good dancer.” He said boastfully, “I am good at everything.” 

She made a face at his arrogant proclamation and narrowed her eyes at the goofy expression he now wore. “Dude, are you drunk?” 

“Pleasantly inebriated, my lady.” Thor corrected, holding his hand out invitingly. “So, do you want to dance?” 

After her conversation with Heimdall she was reminded by just how much older Thor was than her, how much he had experienced and learned. She should be intimidated by him. He was a god. He was a warrior. And she was just, Darcy.

Thor quickly moved his hand to cover his mouth but could not contain himself as a loud belch erupted from deep in his chest. Looking rather proud of himself, he nonetheless apologized quickly. “Excuse me.” 

And just like that the man, almost 1, 500 years old and the _God of Thunder_ , was just a doofus asking her to dance. 

“ _Baby don’t hurt me. Baby, don’t hurt me, no more._ ” 

The song changed. Darcy started moving her hips in time with the music, smiling she took his hand. When they got on the dance floor with the others she physically put her hands on Thor’s hips and instructed him how to bob his head in time with hers. 

She sang along and let the music and the happiness of the event wash over her. “ _What is love? Don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. Ye-aaaaah. Ye-aaaaah._ ”  
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<<<>>>>>  
AUTHOR'S NOTES/SUMMARY 1 year on Midgard = 5 years on Asgard

<<<>>>(Show your work)  
Chris Hemsworth was 35 (during infinity war) and he said Thor is 1500.  
So, 1500 divided by 35 = 42.8 (approximately)  
=To find ages of kids/people just take human age and multiply by 42, therefore some who looks 6 years old to Darcy is actually 252 years old  
=Which means that 42 years on Asgard is equal to 1 year of life for human (roughly)

<<<>>>  
Asgardians will think Alice & Darcy age rapidly, but they just human.  
Time difference between realms is due to Asgard not being ‘out in space’ but in another dimension all together, Bifrost kept them tethered to our timeline, running in parallel (somehow, don’t question it just go with it).  
Without Bifrost there is a big TIME ZONE DISCREPENCY between Asgard and the other realms, this doesn’t worry anyone cuz Asgardians live so long anyway it doesn’t make much of a difference to them

<<>>  
Guardians of the Galaxy has spaceships that don’t move at light speed to travel, but use ‘Jumps’ instead. THEORY, they are literally creating wormholes in space and time, jumping in and out of different dimensions (like Nightcrawler teleportation power in comics) to traverse the galaxy without journeys between planets taking years.  
That is why when in a spaceship in Infinity War, they can travel to Nadavellir even though it is part of the ‘Nine Realms’ described by Thor and the Asgardians. They dimension hop to it.  
…………………………………………..)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  
Volstagg children chart (we might not meet all the kids but I went ahead and named and cast them all)  


Darcy’s Gown For the Party  


Baby Alice’s ‘Wonderland’ Day outfit  


Baby Alice’s Gown for the Party  


Darcy’s Forest ‘art instillation’/party setting  


Food inspiration (Not really mentioned but this is what was being served)  


Alice’s Pegasus Pony  


Heimdall’s Gift  


Darcy’s Solarium / Clubhouse / Art Studio  


(Not mentioned) Thor’s gift to Alice to replace the Snaketpus inspired crib she had before  


(Not mentioned) Darcy’s gift to Alice (chair she built and painted with her own two hands)  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. Is everyone clear on the 1 to 5 ratio thing?  
> Cuz...I'm dabbling with the idea of going to Earth for one chapter. Then jump back to Asgard. But I don't know.  
> I miss Tony. And Steve. And Scott. And yes, I miss them in that order.  
> Clint. Jarvis. Jessica. Matt.  
> These are the people I want to write about if we do a Earth jump, but I don't know if I can do a 3rd person POV. And everything up until this point has been Darcy POV. So if I do a Earth chapter, it will probably be from Steve or Tony POV. But maybe...Fury? Or Pepper? Or Happy. IDK.  
> HOpe you liked the chapter. Hope the math of it all didn't confuse you.


	6. Chapter 6 - Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year after last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, the lack of response from the last chapter left me feeling a little lost about where to go next so that's why this chapter is about 3 weeks late. 
> 
> Also, CORONO VIRUS!!!! Ah, god. I am still working, still touching and interacting with little kids everyday, and I've just been super paranoid about killing my mom (who would no doubt if infected her with it by accident) and so, yeah. Hope everyone is staying safe and not licking toilet seats and what not...
> 
> Also FYI, I did not proof read the chapter, i probably will later on but not today cuz I'm tired now. I need to go bath and sleep and stuff.
> 
> Also, disclaimer on the art at the end of the chapter. I made nothing, all rights reserved by owners and originators of work. I just pulled the pics from pinterest.

Chapter 6 - Two

Darcy missed kissing. And being held. Touched, caressed, and all the other things that usually led up to mind blowing sex. And orgasms. She missed orgasms most of all. Being a mom to Alice was literally everything she ever wanted but nothing about her life now was like she ever thought it would be. 

Two years and change into motherhood and she’d finally lost most of the baby weight. She was finally feeling like herself again, instead of a stranger or a prisoner in her own stretched out skin. She was by no means skinny or unchanged by motherhood, but gone was the excess weight that had caused her such emotional distress. She’d done all that she could to hide her insecurities and with everything else so crazy, she felt only Hogun and Sif, the two who primarily helped her lose the weight, were the only ones to know she was so self conscious about who she looked. 

The fact that she didn’t remember conceiving her daughter had started to occupy her thoughts a lot lately. She often bugged Thor, making him go over what he knew of Steve. What he looked like, how he sounded, what he’d observed between her and the man who provided half of Alice’s genetic material. He indulged her and in all seriousness she loved him for it, she knew it wasn’t his favorite thing, telling her about the man she supposedly loved, especially given his romantic feelings for her. 

Closing her eyes she tried to picture in her mind’s eye what Thor described. Steve Rogers, a man tall and strong and handsome. 

It was all she could do but imagine how they came together. Was Alice’s conception orchestrated through the Citizen’s Duty program as she guessed? Meaning the sex between her and Steve was stilted and awkward, and the warmth between them that Thor described had grown over time? Or did they meet unrelated to the government’s meddling? Did they date? Come to together naturally…meaning Alice’s conception was an act of sensual love making? 

These unanswerable questions and feelings of uneasiness about her forgotten year haunted her. She’d taken to regularly questioning the Queen about the progress of returning her memories. The exchange between them was always variations of the same. 

Frigga in her warm and comforting tone would remind her, “I am exercising caution for your benefit, testing the methods to make sure no further damage is done due to short sidedness. When I am certain of the outcome, we will restore your memories. Trust me.”

She would assure the woman, “I do trust you Frigga.”

The Queen would smile with her eyes alight. She would wave her hand and then Thor would be by her side. “Go with my son my Sweet. Go and live your life, as I understand it your people do not remain young for very long. You should not waste your time worrying on things you cannot change. I have it well in hand.” 

She would try to protest. “But--”

The Queen wouldn’t hear it. “No more.” She’d say.

Then Frigga would usher Thor forth and he would wrap a calming arm around her waist. The queen would smoothly walk them out the door, effectively dismissing them. “Child, let me worry about the magic, I will not disappoint you and in the end all will be as it should. I promise.” 

That promise was little consolation as she and her child continued to cultivate lives and friendships on Asgard, forging bonds and love that felt more real to her than whatever notions she had about how her life back on Earth should be. Especially when she knew that each connection she made was another tie that would make going home just that much harder. Intellectually she knew her time on Asgard was temporary, she had a man who loved her back on Earth, children to mother, a life to return to. It was one of the biggest reasons why she refused to let herself fall into a relationship with Thor beyond friendship. No matter how tempting it was. 

Worrying about becoming too attached to those on Asgard was a problem she had no solution for. Because she could not imagine her life there without them. The people she had come to love. It brought her indescribable joy to see the hardened King Odin, humbled by her daughter, coaxed into imitating the sounds of animals just to make her laugh. She looked forward to her quiet morning runs around the palace with Hogun. Her games of chess and cards with Heimdall. Singing badly to annoy others, with Fandral. Sif putting her through her paces trying to teach her some form of self defense, even if she sucked at it and the only thing to improve in her years worth of training was stamina. 

She wouldn’t know what to do if she couldn’t take part in her daily meetings with the youth of Asgard in her Solarium, providing them a brief reprieve from their responsibilities and duties, if only for a few hours. Or her new passion of providing artistic opportunities to the all the people of Asgard, encouraging people to try new things or follow their as of then unexplored passions. She’d come to the conclusion that Asgard, isolated as it was, was desperate for culture to appreciate, new things to be excited about, and basically permission to step outside the rigid and traditional roles Asgardian society foisted upon people from such a young age. She’d found her calling by spending her days as a kind of Earthly ambassador/camp councilor/troop mom and she was loving it. She couldn’t imagine feeling so fulfilled doing anything other not-really-a-job. 

And Thor. Thor who was her rock. Thor who was her best friend and near constant companion. Her biggest cheerleader. Her partner in caring for Alice. …she could not become too attached to him? To all of them. How was she supposed to be able to leave this place and go home when it was the only thing that her daughter has ever known? 

Sometimes she wished Thor really was Alice’s father, instead of a mortal man she couldn’t remember. 

Still, her preoccupation with the conception of her child often led to thoughts of _that man_. Steve Rogers. What he looked like, how they met, the when, the why of their relationship, and ultimately how he would fare compared to Thor…in all the ways. As a co-caregiver? As her partner? Her friend? Physically…sexually? Thoughts like this had consumed her and her sleep was suffering for it, her mood as well. 

She’d been having some hella persistent sex dreams and not all of them ended happily. Some of them starred random hot blonde men, stand-ins for the unknown Steve Rogers she supposed, but also there were times when Thor or Fandral snuck in there making her blush uncontrollably the next time she saw them. However the fact that she woke up slick between her thighs and feeling unsatisfied was starting to become a real problem. 

With her and Alice still sharing a room masturbating to solve her sudden on set of horniness was an unseemly prospect for her, morally speaking. And logistically it was a bit of a nightmare too. Mostly because of the proximity to her sleeping child at night and her inability to be quiet in her quest for release/expression of frustration. But more than that, she was rusty and masturbating the old fashioned way had never been her favorite. How she longed for some quiet time, waterproof Rabbit and some triple A batteries. 

She was tempted to ask Sif is Asgard even had vibrators, but ultimately was too chicken shit embarrassed to bring it up. However, they were going to have some alone time soon, the woman had offered to help set up for her next open to the public art event. Perhaps she would find her courage and feel comfortable going deep ‘girl talk’ with the lady warrior. 

But she doubted it. 

In so many ways she and Sif had grown closer, especially when she asked the warrior to train her/get rid of the fat. And yet, she often suspected she was the lady warrior’s only female friend besides Volstagg’s wife Gundy. Even still she found Lady Sif guarded and hard to read on the best of days.

The lack of a confident of the female persuasion was one of the only things she found lacking about life on Asgard. She longed for a friend she could confide in, share with, and relate to. A friend who was not Thor, so she could discuss Thor, her complex feelings for the man, her fear of growing close to him, and growing suspicions regarding his mother. 

In all honesty finding a friend her age and species didn’t seem like a lot to ask of the universe, but apparently it was.  
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“So what’s going on with you and Thor?” She asked the warrior. 

“Hmm?” Darcy glanced over at Sif, she wasn’t paying attention. 

“Hmm?” She parroted back with a teasing lilt. 

Rolling her eyes at Darcy’s lack of subtlety the warrior remained stoic as they continued on with their task. They were spreading out great big white canvases onto the ground; the sheets were made of cloth like paper and required two people to lay them out properly. 

They needed sixteen squares for her art event that would be held later that morning and into the afternoon. Each person would get their own square and decorate it as they saw fit. When everyone was done they would sew them together to make a huge ass tapestry of awesomeness. 

Odin had gifted her a building in the city, he thought she would use it to host her community events as the Solarium was nearly bursting at the seams on most days, but she decided the large empty space was better suited for something else.

In truth she knew she knew her own art was shit, but she had fun creating things nonetheless and those she invited to join her on her creativity quests far surpassed her skill. However she knew for certain had she not facilitated them in their endeavors many of the Asgardian artists would never even seek to express themselves in these ways. So, she considered her continued dedication to art a community service of sorts. Those who sought her out were true artists in need of an outlet. It made her feel good to be able to enable their creative expressions. But it seemed a shame no one else got to enjoy the fruits of their labors. And so, when she and Odin set foot in the large empty building near the outskirts of the city she knew exactly what she wanted to do with it. 

The Midgardian Museum of Modern Art was set to open by the end of the week.

The tapestry they made that day would be the first thing everyone saw when they walked past the building. She planned on hanging it outside for all to see and hopefully entice onlookers to come inside. She’d collected a fair amount of art for the inside, all beautiful and from people who until her intervention never even considered art a hobby. 

And while the Warriors Three, Voltagg’s children, and Thor all volunteered to make a piece for the tapestry, Sif offered instead to set up. They’d already laid out all the charcoal chalk, paints, colored pencils, dyes, and basically every other art supply they might need. All that was left was to finish laying the canvas squares out on the grass. Darcy thought it a perfect time to try to coax Sif into some girl talk, but the woman was as usual, resistant. 

“C’mon Sif, I’m trying to bond with you here.” 

Sif smiled briefly at that. “And here I thought us bound after our battle with the mighty Snaketpus.”

Darcy chuckled, ever amused whenever refered to the giant lake monster by the colorful moniker she’d invented. It’d taken a lot of campaigning and ignoring of it’s actual name, but finally everyone had given in. 

“Seriously though Sif,” She pinned the woman with a sincere expression. “What’s going on with you two? I’ve seen the way you look at him sometimes. And there are some palpable UST vibes whenever you two spar.”

“UST?” Sif asked.

“Unresolved sexual tension.” Darcy explained. When Sif rolled her eyes in response, she frowned. “C’mooooon.” She whined exaggeratedly. “With my love life on pause due to space/time shenanigans, I need to live vicariously through the drama of others. Pleaaaaase?”

For months she’d been getting the feeling that Sif liked Thor. She’d brought it up to him on more than one occasion but he always brushed her off saying there was nothing between them, then he’d look at her all sincerely and the moment would grow uncomfortable. Selfishly she thought if she could pair Thor off with someone else, all the complicated feelings between them would disappear and they could just be friends. No underlying sexual tension. Just. Friends. 

“I am afraid you are mistaken Lady Darcy.” Sif’s face was as controlled as her voice in her response. “I only look at Thor as a friend and fellow warrior. Whatever you have ‘seen’ between us, I assure you it is your imagination.” 

“Bullshit.” Darcy playfully accused. She took her took her two corners of cancas and brought them down to the ground. Across from her Sif did the same.

The early morning sun shone down on them as they worked but the air was still crisp and as a light wind blew over them, she shivered. Putting a rock on her corners to weigh the canvas down, Darcy silently observed Sif. The woman crawled over the floor smoothing out the wrinkles before placing her own anchoring rocks.

Darcy was 99.9% sure the female warrior had a crush on her godly BFF, but like her, she just wasn’t letting herself think about, fantasize, or develop the feelings further. Darcy had been trying to orchestrate something between the warriors for the past month, nothing crazy or overt, just doing little things. Making sure they were seated next to each other. Or encouraging Thor to say something complimentary to Sif about her appearance as a nice change of pace since he complimented her physical prowess in battle all the time. Her actions had sparked no great romance.

In tandem they moved on to the next great big sheet, each of them taking one end and then backing away until it was taut between them. “It—I wouldn’t make fun of you if you did.’ She offered, “Have a crush on him, I mean.”

Sif spared her a kind smile. “I know such cruelty is not in your nature Lady Darcy.” 

Encouraged, Darcy still couldn’t shake the skittish tone with which she spoke. She was after all being a butt-inski. “I just thought that—I mean, you’re a badass, you spend most of your time surrounded by guys and kicking their asses. So I thought, maybe you didn’t have anyone to talk to about the girl stuff, like feelings and..whatever.” 

Sif looked at her blankly. Darcy could feel her face heat up as she grew embarrassed. Looking down she stumbled over her words. “I—and I know we’ve known each other for a while, but besides helping you save the day that one time we haven’t been emotionally vulnerable with each other—and I can’t believe I just said that. But I—I mean it. I’m here. For you, I mean. And like, no judgment if you need to or just want to-” looking up she found Sif’s eyes laughing at her again, “-to ‘girl’ talk.” She finished lamely. 

Setting the corners of the sheet down on the ground in sync with her own actions Sif grinned bemused. “Your offer is generous Lady Darcy, and I would avail myself of it, but I promise I have no need to engage in ‘girl talk’ regarding Prince Thor or anyone else for that matter.” 

“Seriously?” She asked sounding put out and astonished all at once. “But you’re so hot and awesome! How can you not have like a thousand guys constantly panting after you? I get the intimidation factor, but surely in this world of warriors and alpha males; a few would be brave enough to faith your wrath and try to win your heart?” 

The bright smile on Sif’s face was rivaled by nothing but the sound of her feminine laughter as it filled the empty field around them. “One would think.” She concurred with an impish smile, just a hint of bitterness lingering in her voice. “And yet…” 

Walking over to one of the last canvases they had to set up Sif avoided her eyes and Darcy felt bad for bringing the mood down. But it honestly made no sense to her. Sif was a catch, her not having any suitors was madness. She expected an uncomfortable silence to descend over them, or for Sif to change the subject, but neither happened.

“When Thor I were young,” Sif began, her voice soft and more vulnerable than she’d ever heard, “we dabbled with a romance.” 

“I knew it.” Subdued, Darcy crowed. “I knew there were sexy vibes between you two.” 

A self deprecating smile spread across the other woman’s face. “We were children, it meant nothing and…it was not as salacious as you imagine. I promise. It was innocent.” Her voice took on a wistful tone, “We were innocent.” 

It occurred to Darcy just then that Thor was probably Sif’s childhood sweetheart and given that their childhood lasted decades…He was her first crush, probably her first kiss, maybe even her first---unthinking she blurted out a question. “Sif, are you a virgin?” 

The warrior looked like she’d swallowed a frog. “I beg your pardon?” 

With widened eyes, surprised by her own tactlessness, she waved her hand dismissively. “Never mind.” Praying to erase the faux pas from her friends mind she plead, “Ignore me. I’m just a weirdo who doesn’t understand social etiquette or personal boundaries. That was rude of me to ask, you do not have to answer.” Feeling a flash of courage she tacked on, “Unless you want to?” 

Her friend appeared contemplative as they went back to work. With their hands busy and eyes focused elsewhere, Sif found her courage too. “I am a maiden still.” 

Darcy felt her eyebrows jump high up on her forehead. “And that means, that you’re still a-a--”

“A virgin.” Sif confirmed tersely. 

“Woah.” She said, truly shocked by the information. “Wow.” 

Sif’s face hardened. “I trust you will keep my confidence?”

“Totally!” She exclaimed. “Don’t even worry about that. Girl code. My lips are sealed.”

Sif nodded accepting her words. Darcy couldn’t help it. She was so selfishly invested in the answer; she had to ask the question again. 

“So you really don’t have feelings for Thor?”

“No.” The wind blew and Sif pushed back a stray hair from her face as she met Darcy’s eyes. “Not anymore.” The woman took a step towards her and for some reason her reaction was to tense up. Sif was not a touchy feely person like her. Whenever the pair of them came into contact it was usually during training, and it usually involved Sif knocking her down into the dirt. Sif hesitated.

Darcy chided herself for her off putting reaction. Leaning forward she pulled the woman into her arms and gave her a hug. It was Sif’s turn to tense up. “He loves you.” She said as she finally raised her arms to return the embrace. 

“I can’t love him back.” She told her friend. “Not the way he wants me to.” 

As they pulled away Sif asked, “Why?” She gave her a knowing look. “I know you find him attractive, you eyes rarely stray from his arms whenever they are on full display.” 

Darcy snorted at that. “Guilty.” 

“So why do you hold back?” Sif pressed. “Was it me? The idea of he and I--”

“No.” She cut off her friend. “No, it’s me.” 

“I do not understand.” Sif said, shaking her head. “You bring each other such happiness. I have told him for months how best to win you--”

Darcy barked out a laugh. Sif looked at her confused. “What?”

“I’ve secretly been trying to push you two together.” She revealed. “But like, subtly.” Sif chuckled at that. 

“You should have known better.” Sif said flippantly. “Thor does nothing with subtlety.” She grabbed a hunk of Darcy’s hair and flipped it over her head, mussing it. “And neither do you.”

“Hey! I can be subtle.” Darcy retorted as she fixed her hair, “Maybe.” 

“I would need substantial proof to believe such a claim.” Sif joked.  
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The event was a success. All around her people were still working on or beginning to finish up their art pieces. As expected her panel was more amateurish than others, as were some of the children’s offerings, but she imagined woven together they would tell the story of the modern artist awakening in Asgard. 

Knowing her work paled in comparison she couldn’t help but be a little proud of her own offering. It was basic, but not ugly. Looking around she surveyed her friends work. Thor’s had turned out like Jackson Pollock painting, a colorful haphazard splattering of paint that was appealing in its chaos, though unlike a true Pollock he’d finished off the piece by dipping his hand in paint and marking the center of the panel with his handprint. Like a signature. In comparison to his friends Thor’s was the least accomplished. 

Volstagg’s was her favorite. He had skill and she liked to think he was pleasantly surprised by the discovery. He’d painted a golden woman who was either partially made of fruit or just wearing a fruit dress, either way it was exquisite. Hogun had also created a human figure but it was hard to tell if his was male or female. He’d used water colors to create the abstract humanoid shape, and to her it looked the figure both contained and was holding the sun and moon, which were also its heart. 

Halfway through the event Darcy had seen what Fandral was making and had nearly had a heart attack. There were many children in attendance and the pieces they made were to seen by the whole city, and Fandral had decided to draw a vagina. It was abstract enough that it could be misconstrued as a flower or something, but anyone familiar with female genitalia would recognize it for what it was. When he saw her unhappy expression focused on him he’d smiled at her rakishly. Teasingly asking, “What do you think?” 

When she’d continued to frown at him he grew twitchy, doubting himself. “You are not saying anything…is it that bad?” When he began to chew on his mustache, a sure sign of his anxiety, she came to the conclusion that he hadn’t created the piece to annoy or scandalize anyone. He was doing what everyone else was, expressing himself artistically. And apparently for Fandral that meant creating an artistic vagina done in hues of purple and orange. 

Keeping her own opinion, she refused to act as a censor. “Do you like it?” She’d asked him.

Growing unusually serious Fandral met her eyes and spoke from the heart. “To my knowledge there is no splendor that rivals a woman who invites you to partake of her petal soft lips, especially if she means her lower life granting lips. There is nothing more neither powerful nor beautiful in mine eyes. I wish to capture that for all to see.”

Darcy had chuckled out an encouraging response to his declaration. “Then I say, continue to paint the vagina of your dreams.” His piece actually turned out really pretty and she appreciated the care with which he showed. 

In between Fandral and ‘the lion of Asgard’, Volstagg’s strangely nearly-the-same-age-as-his-dad son Magnar, proved that artistic skill might be genetic. And perhaps that art inspired other art, given his proximity to Fandral’s vagina painting. 

At first there had been a lot of interest and praise from Thor and the other men as he worked quickly sketching out a naked woman with large breasts posed provocatively. However when he drew in the woman’s face and it looked weirdly like _her_ the commotion around him grew disapproving. 

Thor, up in arms upon her behalf, tried to dissuade Magnar from ‘besmirching’ her honor with such a depiction. Hostile, he’d questioned, “Is it your aim to embarrass my Lady Darcy with this filth?”

Darcy had felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She was kind of humiliated, but only because Magnar was such an unexpectedly good artist and that felt weird to be mad about. His rendering of her was so well done that it almost looked like a black and white photograph. 

She watched the scene passively and tried not to let her own feelings of outrage bleed through her features. After all, he was Volstagg’s son. It had to be some weird misunderstanding. 

Magnar had kept his cool and met the Princes eyes as he answered. “Why dear Uncle Thor, how could you ever suspect my intentions as anything other than pure.” 

“Because he knows you boy.” Volstagg chastised his son. “Now, explain yourself.”

“Or better yet, start over.” Thor demanded. He reached for a jug of white paint and held it over the drawing threateningly. 

Magnar’s eyes shifted over her to her. There was a pleading nature to his voice as he addressed her. “If I could be afforded some patience, my piece is not done, I have just started.” 

Speaking on the topic for the first time, she said. “It looks uncomfortably like me Magnar.” 

The end of his lips tipped up. “Aye.” He confirmed. “I am using you as the base model.” 

“Base?” She repeated. 

“Rubbish.” Volstagg grumbled, he grabbed his son’s arm and ripped the pencil from his head, throwing it into the field behind them. “You insolent--” 

Thor cut him off. “You should be ashamed of yourself Magnar. Lady Darcy only endeavors to bring culture and art to the people of Asgard. She wishes to share joy and love through beauty, and you endeavor to insult her? And such a degrading fashion? How dare you.” 

“I endeavor to immortalize her.” Magnar responded, acting as if his father and an angry god weren’t looming over him, he picked up a paintbrush and began coloring in the background around her figure. “And I am not finished yet.” 

“Why I ought to--” This time it was she who cut off Volstagg. She could see that Magner was coiled tightly, as if readying for an attack. Or a fight. 

“Leave him.” Darcy said calmly. Magnar was being a dick to be sure, but he wasn’t hurting anyone. And she had final say over the tapestry’s construction so if she didn’t like the panel when it was finished she could simply throw it away. She didn’t want to let this bullshit ruin the event for everyone. And if she let Thor and Volstagg tear into him it would.

Magner glanced up at her, his eyes shining with surprise. 

“My Lady!” Thor exclaimed angrily. 

“You do not have to grant him mercy on my account Lady Darcy.” Glaring at his son Volstagg said, “He is a man grown now and as such can suffer the consequences of his actions.” 

“Let him be.” Darcy repeated, turning she put her back to the men, effectively ending the conversation.  
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Sometime later Volstagg and Hogun gathered those finished, leading them to the tents nearby which were erected to provide a meal to those who labored so tirelessly all morning and afternoon, not to mention a reprieve from the relentless sun. The meal was a thank you from her to those who volunteered their time and art to help maker her dream a reality. 

She really hoped her museum was a success and after coming together for this project she really had high hopes about everything. After all, a modern art museum was a just a place for people go to appreciate _new_ and innovative art. And in her opinion that’s what Asgard needed, to appreciate new ideas and different ways of looking at things.

The plan was to leave the canvases out on the palace lawn to dry overnight. The following morn she and Astrid and a few others would make the big ass tapestry. She was very excited. With all the participants they’d recruited the tapestry would cover the building from floor to ceiling and showcase an eclectic array of art styles. And proficiency. The hope was that by binding them all together, the people who visited the museum wouldn’t feel too intimidated by the level of skill based on the tapestry’s offerings. And perhaps it would inspire a few to try their own hand at creating something. 

“Nearly done my Lady?” Thor asked with a warm smile.

“Just about.” With a smile of her own she teased him, pointedly looking him up and down. “I hope you don’t plan on going into the tents for lunch looking like that.” 

Thor looked down at himself, he was covered in paint. Like, _covered_ in it. “And here I thought you were an appreciator of fine art.” 

Fandral hurled another glob of baby pink paint at his ear, Thor’s shoulders rose and his face scrunched at the uncomfortable feeling. “Ugh! It went inside my ear!” 

His friend merely laughed openly at his disgust. Fandral was equally painted, the pair of them had gotten into a playful ‘paint fight’ and the result was hilarious, but probably unhygienic if they were going to eat. 

She gestured over to the well a little ways off, “You two, go clean off before getting some grub.”

“Well water?” Fandral pouted. “Can’t we steal inside the palace for a proper bath first?” 

Darcy ducked her head to hide her smile. “If you do that you’ll miss lunch and won’t be able to hold Alice or give her snuggles before her afternoon nap.” 

“You fight dirty Lady Darcy.” Fandral sighed, “Aw, alright.” Thor said nothing but gave her a pleased smile as he followed his friend off. 

Sif had been caring for Alice all morning. A little before Thor and Fandral’s paint fight, she’d brought the baby by to say hi and have lunch with them but, Darcy was worried her daughter might try to eat the paint if she was allowed to roam free. And so had asked her friend to keep her away and under the protection of the tents. 

Picking up a wet rag she set to cleaning her own hands. Whenever she did art with Alice nearby she made sure everything was non-toxic, however they had made no such precaution for the today’s event. She might be being over protective, but honestly some of the colors looked yummy to _her_ , so she wasn’t about to chance it where her baby was concerned. 

She couldn’t help but smile at those who remained behind finishing up on their work even when food was on offer and they’d already been out in the sun slaving away for hours. She was so happy that people seemed to be enjoying themselves and honestly trying to produce great work. 

Taking a minute to survey those around her, Darcy put a hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the sun as she took everything in.

Off to the left she saw Greir, the local baker, working on an intricate drawing of a Viking ship that somehow evoked a sense of longing. In the center Astrid, the best seamstress in the city was making a self portrait, a small hand mirror her only aid in the endeavor. And in the back she spied Heimdall, but he was too far away for her to get a glimpse of his canvas. 

And then there was Magnar. Now that he was nearly done, she was glad she’d stopped her friends from messing with picture. The end result was gorgeous and bonus! The skillful sketch of her had been painted over multiple times and stylized in such a way that there was only a passing resemblance to her and the naked woman he’d depicted. 

Sensing her eyes on him Magner smirked but continued to work with his head down as he remarked, “You have excellent bone structure. The perfect base for me to build upon.” 

The whole canvas was now done up in bright pastels and their seemed to be a mosaic quality to it, the whole effect smudged and soften the details and most importantly the facial features. She had no idea why her bone structure even mattered, given what it looked like now. “Thanks.” She snorted. 

“Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt.” He acknowledged. “Not many people like me, so that is not often the case.” 

She frowned. She knew Magnar had a hard time fitting in, Gudy had told her as much, but she didn’t know that he felt disliked. She recalled how quickly his own father was to think the worst of him and frowned. 

“I never intended to cause such a stir you know. I am told that my social skill leave much to be desired.” When he looked up at her, finally meeting her eyes she saw unfettered desire in his gaze and it was so unexpected that she was a little taken aback by it. “Does it make you feel uncomfortable to know that under the paint and textured treatments, you will be on display naked in all your glory for all to see?” 

“Dude,” The ends of her lips pulled up against her better judgment. “No.” He smiled at that and she folded her arms over her chest trying to look disapproving. “You did not draw me ‘in all my glory’. What you drew was a fantasy. Not reality. So it doesn’t matter.” 

A booming laugh stole her attention. Thor and Fandral were fooling around at the well, she just happen to look over at the exact moment Thor was peeling off his shirt. With a desperate swallow she allowed herself to admire the spectacle as Fandral followed suit. 

“Lady Darcy?” Magner said, trying to redirect her gaze. 

“Hmm?” She was not proud of it, but she couldn’t divert her eyes away from the half naked men. The afternoon sun had everyone sweating and the men’s tanned skin glistened in the light. 

“And here I thought you were the only woman in Asgard not under the Prince’s spell.” Magner grumbled under his breath.  
She barely registered his words as her eyes tracked a bead of sweat as it slid down Thor’s chest, it hung off the end of his nipple. In her mind she imagined herself licking it off him and then tracing the path it had taken with her tongue. She could practically taste the salt on her tongue. 

“What?” She said distractedly, her eyes flickering briefly back to Magnar before returning to the men at the well. She fanned herself with a rag. It was a hot day and her body felt stiff from being hunched over her canvas all morning, but the way she was feeling had nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with the eye candy on display. 

“Are you in love with Thor?” 

“No.” She answered quickly. Her eyes jerking back to look at the man she was supposed to be speaking to. “I’m not.” 

Magnar’s eyes danced with mischief. “When was the last time you were properly kissed?” 

His line of questioning made her feel awkward about looking at his face. Averting her eyes to her friends she watched as Fandral laughed and lowered the empty bucket down into the well to fill it. “I can’t remember.” 

“Now that is a shame.” He said. Sensing movement she turned back to see Magnar get to his feet and unceremoniously take off his shirt. Her mouth dropped open a little and she couldn’t help but wonder how she’d gotten so lucky or perhaps unlucky to be surrounded by so many handsome and ripped men. 

With a heated intensity in his eyes he spoke in a low raspy voice. “If you were my woman I would devote myself to your pleasure and happiness. Spending more time on my knees in supplication of your divine splendor than the most devote man. And in return I would let you worship me in kind.” 

His words, his tone, everything about the moment was ‘doing it’ for her. She sucked in her bottom lip, biting it as she objectified the half naked weirdo before her. And he was weird, no doubt about that. And maybe a bit of a dick. But when he smiled at her wolfishly she couldn’t help but grow a little wet. 

Thor was never this overly sexual in his pursuit of her affections. Magnar’s well sculpted body and open desire had her feeling like a blushing school girl. Throwing his shirt carelessly over one shoulder, his voice returned to normal. “Welp,” he said looking pleased with himself, “I’m off.” 

Over his shoulder he shouted out, “Ta!” And then he just walked away. 

“What the fuck was that?” She muttered to herself. Her eyes followed Magnar’s progress as he walked away from the tents and back towards the city. She had no idea what had just happened between the two of them, but she decided to ignore it and hope it went away. 

There was a slickness in between her legs and burning desire for male attention in her heart. Silently she turned and watched as Thor’s muscles bulged with the effort of raising the bucket back up from the well. She was far beyond caring about being obvious about what she was doing. 

Letting out a needy sigh she watched as Thor stole the bucket and dumped the whole thing over his head. He was like a fucking Baywatch babe; time slowed down as he dramatically flipped his hair and ran his hand through it. Fandral squawked in annoyance, shoving his friend good naturedly for hogging the water before lowering the bucket back down. But Thor paid him no mind. Instead his eyes drifted over to her. 

Instinct screamed at her to look away, she was caught staring and should be ashamed, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. He was just so sexy and worse, she knew how good it felt to be wrapped up in his massive arms. To be cuddled so close against his warm chest that she could feel his heart beating against her cheek.

Thor looked away, a little smirk on his face as he turned his dirty shirt inside out. Once Fandral raised the bucket of cool well water he dunked his shirt inside and used it as wash cloth, wiping at his paint covered arms trying to get clean. 

Thor snickered as Thor flexed his arm in her direction, Sif was right, Thor did not know the meaning of ‘subtle’. Seeing her react he grinned cockily. Fandral said something to him she couldn’t hear but she appreciated his answering grin as he replied to his friend, his eyes never once straying from her face. 

He looked lusty and she felt a thrill of pride that she was the object of his desire. 

She knew she was playing with fire by maintaining the heated gaze, basically encouraging him and his persistent crush on her, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt desperate for the touch of a man who wanted her. And Thor was so pretty and _good_. He had a good heart. And he was good to her. 

And he wanted her. There was something so intoxicating about that notion. He was a god and he wanted _her_. It sounded ridiculous. Like a joke. Like a fantasy. But it was real. His feelings for her were true, and if she gave him the word she knew they could be together.

She imagined him wearing that same cocky little grin as he disappeared between her thighs to do what Magnar had so poetically described as, ‘worshiping her splendor’. 

And that was what finally snapped her out of whatever lusty spell she’d slipped under. Thor was her friend and not her lover, no matter how horny she was or how hot he was, theirs was a relationship she wanted to preserve because it meant so much to her. They weren’t meant to be.

She had to get some fucking self control and she needed it now!

Looking down at her finished canvas she plucked up her paint brush and pretended she wasn’t done. She painted over the stripes of black that made up her rainbow peace sign American flag. It wasn’t long before a shadow fell over her. 

“Darcy.” Thor’s deep rumbling voice said her name and inside she melted. 

Forcing her features into a pleasant smile, she pushed away all her libidinous thoughts and looked up at his face. His eyes were hooded and his mouth was drawn into a pout. His shirtless skin was golden and then he was down on one knee in front of her. He put the back of his hand to her forehead and she met his eyes. 

“Are you feeling well my Lady?” He let his hand fall to caress her cheek observing, “You look flush.” 

The feel of his warm skin on hers was so tempting. “I’m fine.” She pushed away his hand and tried not to feel bad about the hurt look that put on his face. 

Getting to her feet she looked down at him and announced. “I’m hungry.” 

Thor nodded.

She turned away and walked to the tents to have lunch.  
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One week later they were in a tavern celebrating the Museum opening. All of her friends were there. The libations flowed freely and high on success, Darcy drank deeply from her cups. 

Even in her drunken stupor though, she maintained her composure where Thor was concerned. She did not let her hands wander as they danced. She did not let her tongue let slip all lascivious thoughts in her head. She even managed to push a buxom bar maid into his lap and force the two to engage in a stilted conversation. 

When Thor went to relieve himself Sif grabbed her by the arm and steered her into a quiet corner. “I know what you are doing Darcy.” 

She played dumb. “Having a good time?” She said as she raised her glass to her lips. Sif stole the mug and set it on the tray of a passing bar maiden. “Hey!” 

Sif gave her a reproachful look. “You cannot dispel your feelings for Thor by foisting his attentions upon someone else. To try and do so is folly.” 

“Sif,” Darcy frowned. “I’m too drunk for your big words.”

She made to leave and go to the bar for another drink but Sif had hold of her arm, spinning them in a circle as she refused to let go. “You should retire for the evening Darcy. Go get a good nights rest and perhaps in the morning really think about how you went to spend the rest of your time on Asgard.” 

“Alone!” Darcy exclaimed. “Duh! I have to be alone because of fucking Steve Rogers and the goddamn morals and right and wrong all that other bullshit. So like, I’m fucking done with—you know I don’t even know what I’m talking about anymore.” 

Sif’s hard look finally softened. “You are tired. And confused.” Reaching out she pet Darcy’s hair and god help her, she leaned into the touch. 

“I’m so lonely.” She whimpered. “I thought I was a strong independent woman who don’t need no fucking man, like you, but I’m not. M’not a badass Beyonce, I’m like T-Swizzle. I like the men. I like them so much. I’ma fucking cliché.” 

Sif smiled amusedly at her. “I will walk you home.” 

“No!” Darcy pushed away from her violently. She was embarrassed of her conduct enough she didn’t need her weakness being put on blast via Sif’s chaperon ship. “No.” 

Sif looked concerned. So she made an effort to straighten up and look composed. “Please don’t baby me. If you and I leave, they’ll know I wussed out. It’s stupid. I’m fine.” Her friend did not look convinced. “I can walk in a straight line and make it home. I promise.” 

She took a few backward steps and Sif reached out to catch her as she bumped into someone. “Sorry.” 

The man smiled at her, showing off his missing front tooth. “S’alright.”

Her eyes flew back to Sif. Pointing to emphasize her seriousness she explained, “Its loud and crowded in here. That was an accident not a representation of my true walking abilities.” That earned her a snort. 

“I’m really okay, and I see that you’re right. I’ve reached my limit for the night.” She gripped Sif’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “And I know I’m not being subtle about trying to hook Thor up with someone else, just like I know I’m doing it as a means to absolve myself of guilt for his continued feelings for me and my inability to return them due to a prior commitment back on Earth that I no longer remember, but which does not in fact invalidate its significance even though I’m so fucking horny at this point I almost said ‘fuck it’ like twenty times. Cuz Thor is so fucking tall and good looking and beautiful in his little heart that loving him is not even a question it’s like, how could I not? I can’t not. I do. And he’s hot and I love him but I can’t love him more than I do right now, because it’s wrong, but not in a hot way like he is. But its like sometimes I just look at him and my clit legit throbs, cuz I feel so dainty in his arms and he smells good and—oh god. Oh no. I gotta get out of here.”

She had definitely said too much, going off the look on her friends face. Luckily, someone intervened before any more could be said between them. 

“SIF!” Fandral called out, gesturing to a large man with his mug in one hand and a buxom red head under his other arm, “This man boasted he not only beat you sparing one night, but also pinned you on your back in bed! Come and show him swift and terrible justice for such slanderous claims!”

As an aside to the woman under his arm he said, “It’ll be fun to watch her beat up someone else for a change.” 

“You seem of sound mind.” Sif said with a nod. “I will do as you ask and allow you to walk home alone.” 

“Oh thank you!” She squealed jumping forward and wrapping Sif in her arms as she jumped up and down. 

A whistle rang out and a man in the back yelled out, “NOW KISS!”

Sif stiffened under her arms and with a blush Darcy pulled back. “Wow. Misogyny sucks.” 

With a laugh Sif agreed. “Yes, it does.” With a determined gleam she moved back to the others boldly asking, “And which one of you claims to have fucked me?” 

Her use of course language reminded her that Sif had been drinking merrily as well. Darcy snagged a full cup of ale from a passing barmaid and made for the exit. Muttering as she left, “You fucking go girl.”  
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She made it a few blocks before she had to stop to rest. She saw no reason to not sit on the dirty floor in her fancy dress, because really, it was fine everything except blood eventually washed out. By then her stolen glass was half empty, so she slid her back down the door until her ass met the ground. 

Just as she finished the last drop, she saw someone she knew walking down the street heading for the tavern she’d just left. Half hidden in the shadows, he didn’t notice her.

“Magnar!” She called out, struggling to her fit she threw the empty mug at him to catch his attention. 

“Wha-ow!” She had terrible aim, it hit him right on the toe.

With a rubbery smile on her face she crooked her finger and whispered to him, “Psst. C’mere.”

“Lady Darcy?” His looked up and down the empty street. “What are you doing here alone?” 

“I’m drunk and horny and I _not_ in love with Thor even though I do want him to fuck my brains out, but seriously, any hot guy will do and-” she poked him in the chest, “You like me too.” She grabbed at one of his shirt ties and smiled coyly. “Don’t you?” 

“You are drunk.” He observed with a smile.

“And I’m a very uninhibited drunk.” She informed him with a smile. “And direct.” 

Clutching his shirt, she pulled his body against hers and lifted onto her tip toes so she could reach his mouth with her own. The kiss was a little off target, but she brought enthusiasm and he didn’t struggle or push her away so she figured it all evened out.

“And forward.” He mumbled as he looked down her body, his eyes tracing her curves. “You’re wearing the colors I painted you in.” 

“I want you to do what you said.” She demanded, pulling at his shirt. “When you took you shirt off and got me all worked up.” 

He leaned back but didn’t assist further as she struggled to rid him of his top. “And what did I say?” He asked as his shirt got stuck over his head. Darcy ran her hands up his abs to his pecs and let them rest on his shoulders. Her mouth drew into a pout. 

Magnar threw away his shirt and she was quick to paste on a smile so he wouldn’t be able to read the disappointment on her face. His body was sexy as hell, but…he wasn’t Thor.

“I can’t have Thor.” She explained, her hands tracing his skin lightly. “If I fucked him and loved him, I’d never be able to leave Asgard and go back home.” She looked up at Magnar’s face and found him frowning. She brought her hands up to cup his face, she had to make him understand. “I need to go home to my other babies.”

His brow crinkled in confusion. “The Bifrost was destroyed.” 

“Yeah,” Her mood turned on a dime. The sexual need that had been driving her actions drained from her all at once. “And then the Queen took away my memories.” 

“I thought that was an accident.” 

She stared at his nipples as she gave voice to her secret fear. “I think that was a lie.” Looking up into Magnar’s eyes she knew she couldn’t trust him, she didn’t know him, she didn’t even really like him, but he was there. And she needed to say it out loud. Just once. “I think the Queen is trying to manipulate me by keeping my memories from me. I think I know what she and the King want from me, why their doing what they’re doing, but it’s so crazy it can’t be true.”

Magnar looked serious. “What do they want from you?” 

“Darcy?!” Thor’s voice boomed from down the street. Magnar cursed the interruption. 

She knew how they looked, pressed together, him shirtless, her obviously drunk and hanging all over him. “I’m sorry in advance if he hits you.” 

“What?” Magnar said and she didn’t understand him. He could see that Thor was coming and he wasn’t running away. She couldn’t decide if that was because he was brave or stupid. 

“Darcy!” Thor yelled her name as he got closer, his eyes burned as he stared at her waist where Magnar was touching her. “Let her go.” He said in a dark and angry tone. 

“Go away Thor.” She said sounding tired. And she was, she was tired of wanting things she shouldn’t of not caring enough about a life she didn’t remember, of being weak and needing to feel—she let her arms slide around Magnar’s broad shoulder, pressed her face to his naked chest, hugging him. 

“Darcy.”Thor said her name again, this time worried and confused. 

“Go away.” She repeated weakly. “I can’t deal with you right now.” 

“You heard her.” Magnar said sternly. 

“She is not in her right mind.” Thor said quietly, desperation coloring his tone. “She’s had too much to drink. Does not know what she is saying.”

“I do.” She said tightening her arms around the man she hardly knew, rejecting the one she loved and not having the decency to do it to his face. “Go away Thor.” 

Thor took a step. And then he was speaking to Magnar giving out orders. “You will care for her. Make sure she returns to the palace, unharmed.” 

“I will.” Magnar promised. 

Thor took another step. She felt his hot hand on her arm and it felt like a brand. “I will come check on you in the morning.” 

And then blessedly, Thor walked away from them. 

“He didn’t hit me.” Magner said conversationally. 

“Thor’s always the bigger man.” She snorted at her own words, her dirty drunk addled mind conjuring dick measuring. “Sorry.” 

“Sorry for what?” 

She lifted her head and looked at his face once again. Objectively the man was handsome. She spoke without thinking. “I need meaningless sex with someone I won’t fall in love with.” 

His mouth curled up in a smile. “I can help you with that.”  
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He took her back to his place. It was little more than two rooms, but his bed was soft and they had privacy. He was a sexy man and good to his word. That night he spent hours on his knees, between her legs, giving her orgasm after orgasm. 

And when he finally asked for something in return, she barely had to return the favor before he was shooting off in her mouth. 

Naked, sweaty, and sated she fell asleep just as the sun was rising. She didn’t know if Magnar wanted more than what she offered, more than just her body, but she had a sinking feeling he did. He wanted something from her, but as long as it wasn’t her heart, she figured she was willing to negotiate.  
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Reminder of what Magnar looks like, actor Ian Bohen (who I know from Teen Wolf)  


Darcy’s painting  


Thor’s painting  


Volstagg’s painting  


Hogun’s painting  


Fandral’s painting  


Magnar’s painting  


Darcy’s museum opening celebration dress  


Look Magnar gives Darcy as he says “I can help you with that.”  
  


Unmentioned* Heimdall’s drawing  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the chapter, if you didn't please let me know why you didn't like it so I can have some idea where everyone is at? 
> 
> If you did like it, please tell me! If you elaborate on why you liked it you will make my day and motivate me to write even faster! 
> 
> Because, while I know where I'm taking this story I'm just no sure how the time jumps are being received/ the Thor/Darcy of it all. And frankly, feedback would be very much appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7 - Two, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter, but continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter just grew like a monster. Enjoy!  
> FYI. PLOT THINGS GET REVEALED IN THIS CHAPTER, so hooray!
> 
> ALSO WARNING****************************************************** non-con stuff touched on, but if you read through the Killgrave stuff, you can handle this cuz it is far less insidious and out of Darcy's control

Chapter Seven – Two, part 2

She woke up with a groan; there was a weight on the lower half of her body that was not unpleasant but her lower back throbbed in pain. She quickly realized she was on front, the worst possible sleeping position for someone of her boob size. “Ugh.” 

Feather soft lips trailed up the back of her calf, then her thigh. Teeth nipped at the flesh of her ass. The corner of her mouth briefly tipped up, before another throb in her lower back had her grunting and reaching behind her blindly. “Unn.” 

“What is wrong my Lady?” Magnar teased. “Does your passion wane for me so quickly? I am disspointed.” 

“Ge’ off.” She grumbled as she turned onto her side. She smelled like sweat and sex and the bed was lumpy and as much as she wanted to get up and go sleep in her own bed at the palace, she was still so tired, she knew that wasn’t happening. She could tell by the morning light she had not been asleep but for an hour or so. “Fucking Asgardian stamina.” Letting out a huff she repositioned her head and closed her eyes, determined to go back to sleep. 

Magnar let out a deep laugh before climbing up the bed to lie beside her. He copied her body position, putting them nose to nose then pressed a quick kiss to her lips before nuzzling at her neck. “You would complain about my virility? After reveling in it so wantonly, I expected you to write a sonnet to sing of my prowess.”

She could feel the bulge of his erection against her thigh and had she the energy to roll her eyes at him she would have. “I’m tired. I need sleep.” 

In response, he groaned in disappointment, but she wasn’t sure if it was exaggerated or not. “But I would have you again, my Lady, just once more before I let you restore this glorious vessel.” His hands slid over her body, squeezing and fondling her gently. “Surely you would not deny yourself when there is more pleasure to be had?” 

“Fuck. No.” Darcy grumped. “Leave me alone and let me sleep.” 

His body shook with silent laughter. Arms wrapped around her securely, he pulled her into his solid chest. She let out a grunt as his smelly arm pit came into contact with her shoulder, but he was petting her hair and the sound of his heartbeat under her cheek was soothing so she didn’t complain.

“Alright, my Lady.” He conceded, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “We will sleep for now, but later I will derive much pleasure waking you in the most gratifying way possible.” 

“Sure.” Darcy yawned. His hand had moved off her hair and was now rubbing circles on her back. 

Magnar was quiet for a minute before he spoke, his voice much softer than before. “For all the strength you have shown since arriving here on Asgard, I sometimes forget you are human.”

His free hand came up to her cup her breast, “Your body is so sumptuous and divine,” His hand drifted lower to her stomach. He pressed his hand flat against the slight pouch of fat that always appeared whenever she lay like this. “I forget that for all the life granting gifts you possess, your own will be tragically fleeting.” His hand shifted until it wrapped around her waist, joining his other hand in creating soothing circles on her hip. “Together we shall make it a meaningful one though.” 

His hand on her back, his soft voice, his heartbeat, his warmth, all the exhaustive sex…all of it was lulling her back to sleep. 

Magnar whispered into the dim room, and she was sure he didn’t think she was still awake to hear it. “I will have to work quickly if I am to take advantage.”  
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“How bout just one little kiss to tide me over?” Tony asked before he gave her a slow sensual kiss that warmed her up all over.

She was back on the beach with the famed billionaire inventor. One kiss became two and two became three. And before she knew it she was on her back making out like a teenager, heedless of the sand probably sliding into all manner of crevices .

“I do believe that is more than one kiss.” Thor’s voice broke in.

Tony pulled away from her lips to smirk at the blonde. “Jealous?” 

“Of a weakling mortal like you?” Thor scoffed. “I think not.” 

“I don’t know.” An unfamiliar voice chimed in. “I think we could give you a run for your money.” 

“Especially if we work together.” Tony added with a wink in the direction of the voice.

His eyes shifted back down to her and the look on his face made her feel like she was the most important person in the world. No one had ever looked at her like that. “Team work makes the dream work, right Liquor Lips?” 

“Yeah.” She agreed just to make him happy; she had no idea what he was talking about though. 

Tony leaned down and kissed her again. He was a very good kisser. He was shirtless and she let her hands wander. His skin was warmed by the sun and idly she let her fingers trail across the planes of his back, before bringing them up to cup his shoulders. Gripping him tightly she kept him secured to her; she didn’t want to let him go. 

While Tony and his kisses were her entire focus, beyond them there was an unfamiliar voice talking. “I chose you to be my match, because I could see myself being happy with you. Being happy to begin a--” half way through speaking the unfamiliar voice blended with Thor’s before disappearing completely and then it was just Thor talking. “—family with you. Being happy just hanging out. I like you…given time, I could love you. I know it. Just like I know that you didn’t mean to hurt me. You stopped before you went too far.” 

Magnar’s face flashed in her mind. But then Tony pulled away from her lips and rolled them, putting himself flat on his back in the sand and her on top of him, all thoughts of her Asgardian one night stand flew from her mind. She looked around for the unfamiliar voice. 

In her heart she knew it had to belong to Steve. Steve Rogers whom loved but didn’t know, Steve who she’d had a child with but didn’t recognize. 

But there was no one. No one but her, Tony, and Thor. 

Tony cleared his throat loudly. “Well, I’m glad that he’s happy. That you’re happy. That you want to be happy together, but--”

“What about you?” Darcy guessed.

“Yes.” Tony said staring into her eyes intensely. “What about me?” 

Straddling his hips, she sat up so she could address both men more comfortably. Tony propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at her expectantly. Reaching out she brushed some sand out of his hair, the grin he gave her made her heart beat a little faster. 

“I like you.” She said, “I like just being around you.” She let her hand trail down the side of his face and Tony turned his head so he could kiss her palm. “The way I feel about you has nothing to do with the way I feel about Thor. “ 

She put her hands flat on his chest and looked him directly in the eyes, willing him to believe her. “The way I feel about you negates none of the feelings I have for him and vice versa.” 

“Aye.” Thor agreed, she hadn’t seen him move closer but suddenly he was right next to them. With arms stretched out behind him and his face tilted up to the sky, Thor’s larger frame dwarfed both her and Tony, leaving them slightly in his shadow. 

“I originally wanted to be with both of you.” Darcy swallowed thickly, her eyes trained on Thor. “Not simultaneously. Not if you’re not into that. But I don’t think I ever asked you. Would you be open to that? To a poly-amorous relationship. Me. You. And Tony?” 

The god smiled at her tenderly. “I am in love with you.” 

“I know.” 

The smile wilted a little as he acknowledged. “You are in love with someone else.” 

“Yes.” 

“More than one someone else.” 

“Yeah.” 

Thor sat up abruptly, his hands grabbing for her waist. He easily pulled her off of Tony and into his own lap. His eyes were big and imploring as he said, “But you are in love with me as well…admit it. Please, just once.” 

“I—I love yo--“ She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Thor pressed his lips to hers and she felt such joy. And relief. It felt good to say it out loud, even if only in her dreams. Even if they would never be together in real life, for so many reasons, least of which her conflicted heart. 

Thor’s hands gripped her hips tightly, keeping her in place as their kiss grew more passionate. _Another set of hands were light as a feather as they slid across the skin of her inner thighs._

“Tony.” She gasped out the name of her other lover and Thor swallowed it down without complaint. She was naked now and so were they. 

_Gentle hands teased her folds and then there was a tongue giving her pleasure._ The unfamiliar voice, Steve’s voice, was back. “Could you handle sharing Darcy? With anyone at all? Would you be able to watch her kiss some other man, touch some other man, fuck some other man, knowing she loved you too?”

Thor started speaking words into her skin as his lips traveled across her collarbone. “Would you be able to raise her child, if you were not the father?”

Tony gathered her hair into his fist and took to kissing and biting at her jaw. “Would you be able to handle the intellectual idea that she loved you, and someone else, simultaneously and equally?” 

Steve’s voice was the soundtrack to Thor sucking one nipple into his mouth as Tony pressed two fingers inside her. “Poly-amorous relationships aren’t always equal. You can’t tell Darcy that ‘you’re dating both of us and so you have to develop a relationship with both of us that grows in the exact same way.’”

Thor stole the breath from her lungs with another heated kiss. When they parted he stared into her eyes and Tony’s voice came out of his mouth as he spoke. “It’s really all about getting what you need from the person that you need it from.” 

_Three fingers were inside her and there was a mouth around her clit sucking and licking._ Darcy felt like her brain was turning into mush. Thor was kissing Tony. The bulge underneath her grew harder and she felt herself grow a little slicker at the sight. They were beautiful together. 

As one, they broke the kiss and turned, cheek to cheek, to look at her. There was a predatory glint in their eyes that had her inner muscles clenching in response and anticipation. 

_“Perfect.”_

Thor captured her lips while Tony grabbed for her chest. His fingers were callused and clever and she let out a mewling sound so loud it threatened to drown out his words. “I read up on what kind of things you need to make a poly-amorous relationship work.” 

“You did?” Darcy gasped. 

Steve’s voice answered. “We love you. And we would do anything to be with you.”

Tony’s lips brushed against her ear making her shiver as he echoed Steve’s sentiment. “Anything.”

Steve continued, and suddenly there was a figure just beyond the three of them. The man was naked and built to sell sexy fireman calendars. Tall and blonde she could tell his face was handsome and kind, though it still remained blurry and indistinguishable. This was Steve Rogers, the man she supposedly loved. The man that even in her dreams she couldn’t remember. 

His voice was like a balm to her troubled heart though. “We would understand you needing to be with someone else while we’re apart. Don’t feel guilty. We know who you are.”

“If you find someone worthy of loving, don’t hold back on our account.” Tony whispered. “Our love for you comes with no restrictions.” 

She called out to the figure but he was fading. “Steve?” _The mouth sucking on her clit moved to swipe their tongue over her glistening folds before moving back to her clit. They sucked on the tiny nub then bit down gently before soothing the area with their tongue._ She let out a loud moan. “Ooooh.” 

_Two fingers inside her became three._

“I love you.” Steve’s blurry figure whispered before disappearing.

“I love you.” Tony whispered in her ear. She turned her head to face him and then they were kissing and she was crying. With the pad of his thumb he wiped away her tears. “I thought we were going to end up with a lawyer, not a God, but hey, whatever makes you happy.” 

She grabbed his face and pressed her lips to his. Pouring all of her despair, her confusion, and her love into the kiss, she held onto Tony until he too disappeared. 

_The fingers inside her disappeared._ She felt cold and abandoned. Bereft. 

Thor put a hand on her cheek and it was warm. She leaned into the touch that reminded her, she was not alone. …She did not have to be alone.

 _“Thor.”_ Her voice was weak and she knew she was waking up but she clung to the dream. To Thor.

He leaned in very slowly, giving her a chance to pull away, and he pressed a sweet and chaste kiss to her lips. When he spoke she heard Tony’s voice laced with his own and Steve’s. All three men spoke through the godly vessel at once and the words they said had her crying silent tears of joy and hope and love. “Yes. For you. To be with you. I can—I will. I’m all in.” _And then he was inside her and she shivered at the feeling of being so full. To be so intimately connected to someone she loved so very much._  
.  
.  
.  
“Uh, uh, uh.” Breathy moans fell from her lips and she was confused because while the dream was fading from her mind, the physical feelings were not.

“You are such a divine creature, my Lady.” Magnar’s voice was like cold water. “With my seed inside you, our offspring will be unstoppable.” 

Darcy’s eyes popped open. 

“God’s you feel good.” He muttered. “I can’t wait to be your family.” 

She was awake. And apparently having sex? The sensations her body were experiencing were overwhelmingly good, but she was anything but happy. 

“What’s ‘appening?” Her brain was slow to process what was going on. She was on her back and Magnar was above her, more over he was inside her! She’d been very careful the previous night, she’d told him that their night of meaningless sex was to be a purely physical and most likely a onetime affair. She’d been clear and direct about her high fertility status and her desire not to become pregnant again. Thus they’d pleasured each other with hands and mouths only. 

Magnar thrust inside her a little harder and she squeaked out in anger. “What the fuck!” This was not what they’d discussed.

He grinned down at her toothily, “My beauty finally wakes.” He leant down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before she could object further. Pressing his face into her neck she could feel his lips pull into a smile against her skin. His hips never stopped their steady assault. “Did I not promise you a pleasurable greeting?” 

“Get off.” She slapped at his back and clenched her inner muscles trying to squeeze him out. Which, well, she realized almost immediately that was a stupid idea.

“Oh my Lady!” He cried out, mouthing sloppy kisses on her chest. “Do that again!” 

However she was not in the mood to fuck around, she had no idea how long they’d been having sex or how close he was to spraying his ‘life granting’ sperm all up in her unprotected womb. Grabbing his hair she yanked his head back hard and then poked him in the eyes.

“Ahh!” Magnar reared back. She took full advantage, pushing at his chest until his penis slipped free of her body. She tried to roll to the side, away from him and off the end of the bed, but his lower half kept her anchored to the bed.

“Have I offended thee my Lady?” Magnar tried to keep the charm in his voice, but his underlying aggravation shone through. 

“Let me up.” She demanded. She shoved at his chest to show she meant business, but her efforts barely moved him. 

Even while rubbing his tender eyes, Magnar managed to glare at her. “Did I offend you with my laborious oral preparations? You grew so wet so quickly, the sounds you made spurred me on until I grew a husband’s bulge.” The scowl he wore was ugly despite his handsome features. “I did not realize you enjoyed pain when partaking of pleasure. I have heard of women like you. Should I pull on your hair and strike you as you did me? Would that make the experience more exciting for you?” 

Darcy’s anger gave way to fear. Weaker than before she demanded, “Let me up.” 

And for a second, she thought Magnar would hit her and then rape her. Force her to finish what he had started without her consent while she lay in his bed, asleep. And then he smiled like a car salesman. “You need not leave so hastily.” 

His hand reached for her pussy and Darcy grabbed for his wrist trying to stop him, but she wasn’t strong enough to keep him from his goal. He slipped two fingers back inside her wetness and started to thrust them in and out. His thumb went to her clit and began rubbing circles. It felt really good. 

In a husky tone she asked him to stop. “Please --” 

He smiled at her more sincerely. “You are a beauty, you know that?” 

“Please stop.” Crooking his fingers inside her, he hit something along her frontal wall that had her moaning and squirming on his hand. Encouraged by her response he darted down and kissed her lips, slipping his tongue inside. Then he was sucking her bottom lip into his mouth. The sensation was exquisite and left her breathless and wanting more. 

“Not an obvious beauty,” He said conversationally, pulling back he watched her reactions with bright eyes, just as he had the night before when he had been learning how to play her body like a violin. “-but you have a decadent elegance that I find myself in awe of.” 

Leaning forward he made to press a kiss to her lips but she turned her head to the side, as good as he was making her feel she did not want this to continue. When he made a disgruntled noise and set to kissing along her jaw and neck, she couldn’t help but notice the tension that now lined his shoulders. 

She worried about what would happen if she really made him angry. After all, they barely knew each other. She had no idea what he was capable of.

Speeding up the digit circling her clit he added a third finger inside her. Using a seductive honeyed tone he tried to get her to surrender to him once again. “My Lady, relax. I implore you, lay back and enjoy yourself once more. Allow me to atone and let us put this miscommunication behind us.” 

She contemplated screaming for help. He had neighbors, of that she was sure. But would they come if she called? Would they even be home at this time of day? What time was it? Would he stop if someone did rush in to save her? …Did she really need to be saved? 

Clenching her hands into fists, she decided to give diplomacy one more try. Not because he deserved it, but because she liked him. At least she had. It’s why she turned to him in her drunken and horny state the night before; he was handsome and weird, but kind. In his own way.

Also, Magnar was Volstagg’s son. And part of the reason he did not have a lot of friends was because he did not understand social cues due to spending most of his childhood alone on a remote planet. He was emotionally stunted and from what she’d observed, somewhat oblivious to other people’s feelings. She hoped that by being firm and direct, she would be able to talk some sense into him, but if not she was prepared to fight like hell. 

In a stern and cold voice she said, “Magnar. I do not want to have sex with you anymore. Please, stop touching me and get off so I can get dressed and leave.” 

He stopped moving his hand. The expression on his face was a mixture of shame, anger, and sadness. “I have not pleased you?” 

She averted her eyes to the ceiling. “This is your last chance. Stop touching me. Get off. And let me go.”

His hand withdrew from her body and she did not stop to sigh in relief, instead she bolted upright and pushed his legs off of her. Throwing herself out of the bed she made a beeline for her dress and quickly put it on. 

Magnar rose from the bed, naked and unashamed. “You told me last night that we would not be having sex in the traditional sense.” He made his way towards her and she tried to ignore him as she searched for her shoes. “I did not honor your request and for that I apologize for offending you.” 

“I don’t care.” She said as she got down on her hands and knees and looked under the bed. One of her shoes was underneath and she scuttled forward to grab it.

“Please give me another chance.” Magnar plead. Rising up, she sat on the bed and put the sandal on; it was one that she had to wrap around her ankle and tie to secure, ignoring the sad naked man seeking forgiveness, her eyes moved along the floor searching for her other shoe. 

Magnar fell to his knees in front of her and grabbed her hands, halting her tying motion. “Please. My Lady Darcy, take pity on me. I could not help but give in to the hedonistic temptation your body presented. After a night of pleasure like I’ve never known, learning the ways of the flesh under your expert guidance, I was weak. I knew you were the woman I was meant to surrender my virginity to.” 

That revelation stopped her in her tracks. “What?” 

Magnar’s eyes were expressive as he reiterated, “I knew you were the woman I was meant to surrender my virginity to.”

“You were a virgin? Before…A virgin?!” The man blushed. And the fact that he was still naked and on his knees, with his wet erection hanging sadly between her legs, just made the whole moment even more surreal. “If you remember, I was isolated on another planet for most of my youth.” 

“But, you’re so hot. And--” She waved her hands in the air. She was getting distracted. “Doesn’t matter.” 

“I knew were meant to be together the second I learned of you.” He gave her a puppy dog eyed look. “I just got over eager.” 

“I told you I didn’t want to have sex and you took advantage of me in my sleep.” She poked him in the chest. “That’s not over eager, that’s a calculated move to get what you want despite my wishes.” 

Magnar averted his eyes to the floor. “I thought you would be pleased by my boldness. I mean you and I are so alike in so many ways.” 

“No we’re not.” 

“But we are!” He cried. “We were displaced unexpectedly, abandoned on alien worlds and left to fend for ourselves. And yet we thrived!” His eyes shot up to her face. He looked, almost hopeful as he continued on yammering, “I missed out on my entire childhood, came home to find myself replaced. And now years later I meet you? A woman who is fated to mourn the children she was forced to abandon? I could help you replace them, move on from their loss. ‘Tis surely fate!”

He was delusional. And therefore dangerous. 

“That’s not what I would call it.” Darcy grumbled as she finally spied her shoe half hidden under his discarded shirt. Pushing him aside slightly she moved to retrieve her other shoe, but Magnar grabbed her wrist stopping her. 

“Do not go! Please!” She tried shaking him off but he just squeezed her tighter. 

“Magnar, I’m sorry you wasted your virginity on me, but I told you what I wanted when we hooked up. Meaningless sex without penis vagina penetration. I was not deceptive, I was direct. And you need to let go of me. Right now.”

He didn’t let go. “But, we are so alike. Our path’s so similar. And you, your womb is so fertile, so like my mothers. Yet another connection! I thought we--”

“Let go!” She tried wriggling free but his grip was unbreakable. She slapped at his shoulder with her free hand but, the more she struggled to be free the tighter his hold became. And then she wasn’t trying to get away from him because he was a weirdo would-be rapist, but because he was hurting her. “Ow! Stop! Let go!” 

“Not until you give me another chance!” He squeezed her wrist just a little more. 

The bone snapped under the pressure. “AHHHH!” Screaming out in pain, she fell to her knees.

Finally, Magnar let go of her wrist. 

Cradling the injured limb close to her body she stared at him in horror and he gaped back at her. “I did not mean to--”

“I DON’T FUCKING CARE!” She screeched as she got to her feet. 

“I forgot how fragile you humans are Lady Darcy, please forgive me--” She didn’t stay to listen to his apologies. She fled the tiny house and didn’t look back.  
.  
.  
.  
She wanted to run to Thor and cry in his arms about how stupid she was. She wanted to burst into the Queens personal chambers and grab up Alice and hold her tight and never let her go. She wanted to run to Odin and have him throw Magnar in jail. Or go straight to Volstagg and Gudy, let his parents fucking spank some manners and sense and morals back into him. 

Instead, she went straight to Lady Eir and the healing room. It was an ordeal to get there, what with everyone she passed asking if she was alright, but she managed. And thankfully didn’t run into her friends or any of the royals. 

The healers eyes bulged when she came stumbling in through the door. She could only imagine how terrible she looked. What with her sex hair, and dress askew, wearing only one shoe and sporting a bunch of hickeys up and down her neck. Not to mention the state of her injured wrist. 

“Help.” Was all she said as she collapsed to the floor and started sobbing.  
.  
.  
.  
Fifteen minutes later she was on some awesome pain killers and Lady Eir was about to put a magical cast on her wrist that would help heal the injured bone in half the time than was possible back home on Earth. Thor burst in just as she picked the color she wanted. Blue. 

“Where is she—DARCY!” Thor rushed over to her side. He stared down at her with a stormy expression. His eyes traveled up from her dirty and bloodied feet, up her legs, chest, neck, and face, before settling on her wrist. At this point it was pretty ugly dark purple color. But gloriously numb. 

Darcy smiled at him widely. “I broked my wrist.” 

Thor’s nostrils flared in anger. “Is she still drunk?” 

Lady Eir rolled her eyes at the question. “She was in pain, I gave her a heavy dose of capsaicin. She’ll likely be loopy for a few hours.”

“It’s the bomb dot com.” She informed him. “Seriously feel drunker than a skunker.” Thor did not look amused by her rhyming prowess. 

Reaching out she grabbed the front of his tunic. “Hey,” She tried pulling him closer, but he was already pretty close so he just stood there. “Hey, hey, listen. I’m okay. Okay?”

“Who hurt you?” Thor asked, the sound of thunder rumbled in the sky outside.

“Is you gonna kill him?” She countered. “Cuz if you’re gonna kill him. Then I’m not gonna tell you.” 

“It was Magnar.” Thor declared. 

“Hey!” She exclaimed grabbing for his beard, this did bring him closer as he ducked his head to avoid the sting her tugging would cause. “You look all murder-y.” She looked at him in the eyes and saw anguish warring with anger. Her voice grew flat, she didn’t like being the cause of Thor’s pain. “I don’t like it.” 

“With proper care and close adherence to my instructions, she will heal within six months.” Lady Eir interrupted as she began to wrap Darcy’s wrist in blue bandages that she assumed would harden into a cast. 

“I will kill him.” Thor whispered darkly, he pulled away and made for the door before she could think to grip his beard any tighter. 

“No! Thor!” She called out but he was out of the door. Knowing he could still hear her if she yelled loud enough she screamed, “BUT I LOVE YOU!” 

Two seconds later, Thor stuck his head back in the room. “What did you say?” 

“I love you.” She repeated. “Now, come over here you dumb butt.” 

Looking uncertain, Thor stepped back into the room and made his way over to her side. There was a little stool and she pointed to it, he sat down. She held out her hand and shook it, demandingly. “Hold my hand.” He laced their fingers together and bent his head to press a kiss to her knuckles. She smiled at the tender gesture. 

In a soft spoken voice she said, “I love you.” This made Thor look up at her and smile, but then his eyes were drifting over to Lady Eir and he was frowning. 

“Do you want to know what happened?” She offered, trying to recapture his attentions. He nodded. And so she started talking. 

“I went back to Magnar’s place and we didn’t have sex, but he went down on me and I went down on him. And it was, real good. Like, he has a really long tongue and it’s surprisingly agile.” 

Thor’s brow crinkled. “Go down?” 

“He licked my pussy until I orgasmed a bunch of times and then I sucked his dick.” She translated. 

Thor’s eyes widened and his face flushed pink. It was so adorable that she couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh my.” He got over the embarrassment quickly. “And then he broke your wrist afterward?” 

“No. First I had a sex dream about you and Steve and Tony Stark for some reason? I mean, I know of the man, he’s famous and everyone knows him, but in my dreams I.. _know_ him, know him. Ya know?” 

“No.” Thor frowned. “I do not know.” 

“Well, anyway. So I was having a sex dream and they were all, ‘go forth and fuck and love your heart out’ blah blah blah. And it was heavily implied that I was in a poly relationship back on earth, and so maybe my memories are coming back? But, maybe not. But, whatever. We’ll table that for when we confront your mom about her evil machinations. Anyway…what was I saying?” 

Thor looked over to Lady Eir and raised a brow. “How much capsaicin did you give her?” 

“Oooh!” Darcy slipped her hand out of Thor’s hold and slapped him excitedly on the arm. “I remember now. I was saying it was implied that I was in a threesome with Tony mother fucking Stark! So. That’s awesome, and! It explains why Heimdall says he’s taking care of my son, which I knew about but had no context for. I seriously thought the guy had followed in Angelina and Brad’s footsteps and adopted my baby in some weird celebrity one up-man-ship game.”

“And you learned all this from…a sex dream?” Thor asked for clarification. 

She frowned at the doubting tone he used. “Hey man, sex dreams are just dreams with sex in them. They are no less revealing than ordinary dreams.” 

“And you believe in dreams?” Lady Eir questioned. “About the power they hold to foretell the future?” 

“What?” Darcy flinched as the healer pulled the wrap a little too tightly. “No.” 

She turned to look at Thor. “I believe that my dreams reveal shit about me and that’s it. I mean dreams are just stories made up out of your memories or fantasies. They don’t have any power.” She poked him in the nose grinning. “Just insight on the dreamer.” 

Thor smiled at that. “And in this dream, we were together?” 

“Yes! And I finally admitted how I felt about you. We had sex, it was hot, obvi. But then I woke up and found Magnar losing his virginity to me. Gasp! And I kind of think he was plotting to knock me up! Plot twist!” 

Thor interrupted. “And that’s when he hurt you. After he raped you.”

“He didn’t rape me.” She protested. After a beat she said, “Weeeeeeel. Maybe a little rape.” 

Thunder clapped overhead preceding a torrent of rain. “His violation will not go unpunished.” 

“OMG Thor. It’s not a big deal.” Honestly she didn’t think it was a rape. He was the inexperienced virgin, she’d been the one to come on to him, to show him ‘the ways of the flesh’. She didn’t think he should die because he had sex with her while she was asleep, especially considering he did stop….eventually. “It’s fine.” 

Jumping to his feet Thor boomed. “IT IS NOT FINE!”

Seeing him so angry upon her behalf, for some reason, made her get a little teary eyed. Reaching out she patted his heaving chest. Softly, she sought to comfort him. “You’re right. It’s not fine. I’m mad. I am.” 

Gripping his pointer finger, she got him to sit down next to her once again. “He was pleading with me to give him another chance, trying to make me stay. He held on too tightly and broke my wrist. I think it was an accident.” 

Muttering darkly, Thor said, “He’ll die for this.”

“Whatever.” Lacing their fingers together Darcy let out a weary sigh and closed her eyes, leaning her head back. She winced as the wrap around her wrist was tightened once again. “Just don’t leave me, okay?” 

Thor didn’t respond verbally, but the soft kiss to her temple was promise enough.

He sat with her while Lady Eir did her work. And when she was finished, he sat attentively and listened to her care instructions. Then he scooped Darcy up in his arms and carried her away. 

Feeling safe, she rested her head on his chest and let her mind slip away and sleep claim her once again.  
.  
.  
.  
When she woke next it was dark outside and she felt like shit. Her wrist ached and a guttural moan escaped as she went to stretch and banged her arm on the headboard. With a hiss she pulled the limb close to her chest and muttered, “Fuck.”

“Darcy?” The room flooded with soft light. Thor was sitting in a chair at her bedside. “You are awake, finally.” 

“I am.” Her eyes were drawn to the glass of water next to the bed. Without a word, Thor rushed forward to bring the glass to her lips. She drank from it greedily and smiled at him as he returned the empty glass to its place. “Thank you.” 

He stared at her and she saw fear in his eyes. And love. “Are you feeling better?” 

“No.” She said frankly. “The drugs wore off and now I feel like shit.” 

He chuckled and she felt weepy. She remembered everything from earlier. Her sex romp with Magnar. The dream. What Magnar had done to her after. What she had said to Thor when she was getting her wrist wrapped. All of it. She wanted to cry, so she did. She was with Thor, which meant it was safe to vulnerable if she needed to be. 

“Oh my love,” Thor cooed as he climbed into the bed beside her, Darcy melted against his large frame. He cuddled her to his chest and rubbed calming circles on her upper thigh. He pushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. It was everything she needed in that moment and more. 

And she had no choice but ruin it. “I have to pee so bad.” She said as tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry.” 

Thor pressed another kiss to her hair. “Do not be sorry.” He looked her in the eyes and spoke from the heart. “None of what has transpired was your fault.” 

He was so earnest in that belief that she felt the urge to argue and pick a fight. He looked at her like she was his whole world. Like she was the reason he smiled. Laughed. Lived. And Breathed. It was overwhelming. “I really have to pee.” 

“Of course.” He helped her to the bathroom and told her not to get the wrap on her wrist wet, then left her in peace. She peed then attempted to take a one armed shower. It did not go well. 

She got her wrap soaked. Whatever Asgardian hoodoo that was keeping it on her skin dissolved into shriveled bits of gooey cloth. With a sigh she resigned herself to another trip to the healing room. When she emerged towel clad and shame faced about her wrap related failure, Thor was waiting for her. 

His eyes squinted as he took her in. “What happened to the wrap?” 

With her head hung in disgrace she admitted. “I turned it into goo.”  
.  
.  
.  
After helping her get dressed, Thor carried her back to the healer. When she tried to argue that her legs worked just fine, he’d given her such a desperate look and she conceded to being doted upon. She could tell that he needed to do something. To be helpful. 

She got the impression that her injury had scared him. Maybe even made him come to terms with the fact that she was human and he wasn’t. In a few decades she would be dead and he…he would still look like a God in his prime. For all that she’d admitted to herself that she loved him and he loved her, she knew they would never work as a couple. They were too different. 

He was a god. A GOD. He was a prince. And tall. And blonde. And perfect. And she was…used. And lumpy. And mortal.

She was certain that after fucking Magnar, he would see her differently. He would come to realize how out of his league she was. How wrong they were for each other. How much better he could do than someone like her. But, for now, she let him carry her around. 

When they entered Lady Eir let out an aggravated sigh. “I knew you’d be back. Somehow, I just knew it.” 

Thor placed her on one of the elevated beds and took his place on the stool next to it. Lady Eir gathered supplies to re-wrap her wrist and moved to the other side. She cast an accusing glance at her injured arm and her wet hair. “You took a shower?” 

“Mmhm.” She wordlessly confirmed. 

“Got the wrap wet?” 

“Mmmhmm.” She affirmed more subdued. 

Lady Eir glared at Thor. “I blame you.” 

“Me?” He squeaked. “She’s the one who disobeyed your instructions.” 

“Whoa. Way to throw me to the wolves, dude.” Darcy muttered making Lady Eir snicker. Thor opened his mouth to argue his innocence, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. 

As Lady Eir got to work Darcy frowned at her supplies. Looking up at the woman with sad eyes she asked, “You don’t have any more blue ones?” 

Lady Eir let out a long suffering sigh, turned on her heel and made for the cabinet. Banging around loudly she produced another blue wrap. 

“Yay!” Darcy cheered, she was about to clap her hands together but at the last minute stopped herself. “Whoops.”  
.  
.  
.  
Ten minutes later, crying could be heard outside the door. She recognized the sounds of her unhappy daughter immediately. Putting a steadying hand on Thor, who rose to meet the noise, Darcy’s eyes focused on the door. “Wait for it.” 

The sound got closer and closer, until the doors burst open, revealing Alice. “Mama!” 

“Hi baby.” Darcy waved her good hand, her daughter ran to Thor scrambling up into his lap. Reaching out for her mother, Alice cried her name clearly too upset to express anything more than, “Mama!” 

Darcy grabbed her hand and squeezed.”I’m okay baby.” 

Two seconds later the King and Queen burst in. “Alice!” Frigga exclaimed as she panted. “You cannot run away from us like that.” 

Odin had an oddly nervous look on his face as took in the scene. “We were just informed you were injured.” he seemed a little ashamed as he admitted, “And then she just started crying and running.” 

“Mama!” Alice stood up on Thor’s lap and tried to launch herself at her mother, but Thor held her tight. Her daughter grew upset as she was restricted and kept apart from Darcy whom at this point she’d not seen since yesterday afternoon. “Mama! Mama! MAMA!” 

Seeing her daughter crying from emotional distress elicited a visceral response. “It’s okay,” She told Thor holding her one good arm out for a hug; “Give her to me.” Turning her attention to her daughter, she tried to console her. “It’s okay baby. I’m okay, don’t cry. I’m here. Don’t cry.” 

Thor looked doubtful, but he whispered in Alice’s ear, “You must take care, little love, your mother is injured. Do not jostle her arm.” Then he carefully laid her daughter on her chest. Alice’s tiny arms squeezed her with all their might and Darcy wrapped her good arm around her equally so. 

“I’m here.” She reminded Alice as the two year old continued to cry, she kissed the top of her head before resting her cheek there. “I’m okay. We’re okay.” 

As her tears slowed her daughter looked up and asked, “Mama hurt?” 

She wiped away some of the tears and snot with her hand, cleaning Alice’s face, before responding. “Yes, I got hurt.” She wiped the grossness on the side of the bed before using her hand to pet her baby’s hair back. “I’ll get better though.” 

“Mama.” Alice deflated as she moved her head back in position on her mother’s chest. When she stuck her thumb in her mouth, Darcy knew she must be exhausted. Petting Alice’s back, she hummed and rocked her as best she could while trying to stay still so Eir could wrap up her wrist. 

When the Queen whispered to Odin and it looked like they were going to leave, Darcy knew she had to stop them. This was her chance to unravel some of the mysteries her life was currently shrouded in. She was injured thus had sympathy on her side, Alice was sleeping but would still serve as an effective buffer, and they were all in the same room but not the throne room where the power couple had intimidation on their side or the breakfast room where servants were always coming and going. Her eyes swept the healing room and found it empty of any other patients. 

Now was the time to strike.

She slapped blindly at Thor and gestured to his mother. She mouthed the words ‘make them stay’ and then watched as Thor rose quietly from his seat and whispered to his parents. When the King and Queen looked over at her expectantly Darcy mouthed the words, “Sit The Fuck Down” and pointed at the unused bed next to her. 

Odin snorted at her audacity, but Frigga scowled at her. However, they both did she asked.

And even though nothing was said about remaining quiet while Alice fell into exhausted slumber, they remained that way until Lady Eir finished her work. When the last bandage was in place she spoke to Darcy in a stern but quiet voice. “Keep it dry or else it will dissolve again. And I won’t give you blue one next time.” 

Darcy smiled her thanks. 

“Leave us.” Odin commanded the healer and his rudeness grated on her nerves. 

“Please.” She interjected with a pointed look at the King. 

Odin rolled his eyes but corrected himself. “Please, leave us Lady Eir.” The woman did so without further comment. And then they were alone. 

The royal family, her sleeping child, and her.  
.  
.  
.  
Darcy came out swinging. “So, Queen Frigga. Did you or did you not steal my memories on purpose?” 

“What!?” Odin boomed, his loud tone had Alice twitching in her sleep. Everyone glared at him. 

“If you could maintain a sense of decorum your highness?” Darcy said pointedly, “We could have this discussion without waking my distraught child.” 

“How dare you make such an accusation?” Odin whisper yelled at her. “The loss of your memories was an accident! She tried to help you out of pity and now you question her motives? How dare you.” 

Darcy looked over at Thor and found him with an odd look on his face. Seeing he had her attention he straightened up a little in his seat. “Thor is so good.” She said, “Kind and noble. Strong and brave. Everything you could want in the future King of Asgard.” She held out her hand to him and held her breath as he stared at it contemplatively. 

When he took it, she felt so much better about her haphazard plan to confront his mom. Turning back to the royals she smiled at Frigga. “You did a good job raising him.” 

“Thank you.” Frigga replied with distain.

“And yet…” She said letting her words drift off. 

“And yet what?” Thor prompted. 

“And yet she also raised Loki, God of Mischief, teller of lies, weaver of chaos and calamity.” 

“Where are you going with this girl?” Odin asked. 

She gave him a considering look. He was a man quick to anger, but he liked her. She knew the king liked her and was fairly certain he had nothing to do with what had happened to her memories upon her arrival. Her eyes drifted to the Queen. Looking at her now, she had no idea how the woman felt about her. Even after all this time. She knew Frigga loved Alice, of that much she was certain. Both she and Odin, wore their affection for her baby with pride. And sometimes she thought the Queen cared for her too, but other days, like now, Frigga looked at Darcy like she was less worthy of her attention than a piece of fly shit.

“You taught him magic. You shaped who he was, what he became.” She met Frigga’s eyes head on. “Stands to reason you taught him how to lie, manipulate, and pursue what he wanted at all costs. Which he did, I understand, at great expense.” 

“Who are you to speak such ills of my son?” Frigga hissed with venom. 

Darcy nodded mostly to herself, “Answering my question with a question. Good tactic to use when you don’t want to speak the truth. Personally, I enjoy changing the subject abruptly.” 

“How did you arrive at this suspicion?” Thor asked. “About my mother’s involvement.” 

Darcy shrugged. “There’s no good answer. No ‘aha!’ moment. No proof. No evidence. Nothing to make me think what I think is true.” She stared at Odin, “Except a feeling in my gut.” 

Odin looked away from her, his face was somber. She had a feeling, _he_ had a feeling about her memories and how she lost them too. He was just too in love with Frigga and too happy with how things had turned out to admit it.

“Why would she want to take your memories from you?” Thor asked.

Her lips quirked up and she gave his hand a squeeze. “You know, you’re very astute Thor.” He preened at the compliment but still appeared lost. “I asked myself the same question. And, honestly,” Her eyes looked him up and down, admiringly, “I have my suspicions.” She turned and fixed Frigga with a stern stare. “But really, I want to hear from you.” 

Frigga stared back not saying anything for a long minute. Darcy was not a patient person so she decided to rattle the woman’s cage so to speak. “I’ve been super horny for the past couple days.” She maintained eye contact with the woman, waiting for a sign of guilt. “I fucked Magnar, you know, Volstagg’s son? And then he tried to rape me.” 

“He did what.” Odin said darkly. She’d never seen the resemblance between him and Thor as clearly as in that moment. 

Frigga too, looked upset by the news. “He planted his seed inside you?” 

Darcy played coy to annoy the woman to hopefully get her to explode, as her sons and husbands were wont to do. “Did you take my memories away on purpose? Yes or no?” 

“Where is he now?” Odin demanded his eyes on his son, “Did you kill him already?” 

“We have potions I can give you to get rid of the bastard’s seed and free your womb of his spawn.” Frigga said, appearing sincerely consoling. Warmth radiated from her as she looked at Darcy with pity in her eyes. “I’ll help you and I’m sorry this happened to you, truly I am.”

“Did you take my memories away on purpose Queen Frigga?” Darcy patted Alice’s back as she shifted in her sleep. She could feel a sliver of drool pooling on her chest but she paid it no mind. 

“Fuck your blasted memories!” Odin got to his feet but roared quietly, his eye drawn to her hand on Alice’s back, “We have a rapist to bring to justice!” 

She ignored Odin blustering. She ignored Thor’s hand in her own, providing comfort. She ignored her daughter who every breath has made her life worth living. And she focused her attention on Frigga, waiting for her to answer the question. 

“Yes.” 

“Mother!” “Oh, Frigga.”

“Why?” Darcy pressed. 

Frigga’s eyes looked pointedly at her and Thor’s joined hands as she responded, “You know why.” 

“Give them back.” She demanded quietly. “Now.” 

“I cannot.” Frigga met her gaze and she saw tears there and wondered if they were genuine. “It was a spell I was unfamiliar with, one of Loki’s own creation. Only he can reverse it.” 

“Loki? Dead Loki?” Darcy felt tears build up in her own eyes but refused to let them fall. “So basically, there gone forever.” 

“How could you?” Thor said, shaking free of her gasp he stood and approached his mother. “How could you violate her like that?” 

“It wasn’t a violation.” Frigga defended, “It was a mercy. You remember how she was before. She was near suicidal!” 

“You raped her mind!” Thor boomed, heedless of his volume. Darcy quickly slapped her hands over her daughter’s ears in an effort to keep her asleep, but forgot about her hand being injured. 

“Mother fucker that hurts.” Darcy groaned. Her efforts were for naught. Alice stirred awake and began to cry. Looking over at Thor she expected to find him sheepish, but he looked murderous. Mechanically she sought to calm her daughter. Whispering words of comfort and rocking her.

“How could you keep this a secret from me? After everything I told you felt for her? You know I loved her. You knew I would do anything to help her, make her happy, and you—how could you!?” He loomed over his mother who was wilting under her the power of son’s rage. 

Odin stood, coming to his wife’s defense. “Sit down boy.” 

“She betrayed me! Betrayed Darcy, you, all of us!” Thor accused pointing at his mother. There were tears in his eyes now. “How could you mother?” All the rage seemed drain from him, leaving only despair in its wake. “How could you hurt someone I loved so much?” 

“Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. I was trying to help.” Frigga whispered. Alice rubbed at her eyes.

“By hurting her?” 

“Taking her memories away was the only way to make her strong enough to withstand her heartbreak.” Frigga’s eyes drifted over to her. “You, my son, will never know the pain of mother who is separated from her children, it is beyond anguish.” Loki. The pain of his loss was written all over the Queens face and for a second she and Frigga had an understanding. She knew what it was to be driven crazy by a broken heart. 

“Was that the only reason?” Darcy prompted softly. “Or was there something more insidious?” 

Frigga looked down. “Years ago on the solstice before Loki’s first birthday with us I asked the Norns for guidance and I was shown a vision of the future.” She revealed quietly, just as Alice settled back to sleep. “That vision has guided my actions for most of my life.” 

“She’s the one?” Odin asked, receiving a small nod of confirmation from his wife, his eyes went back to Darcy. He surveyed her with a small smile. 

“What was the vision?” Thor asked. 

“It was her,” Frigga confessed, gesturing to Darcy and Alice. “Them. And, you.” 

“What about us.” Darcy pressed. “What did you see that made you think I would be better off not knowing the father of my children? Or how we met? Or what--” She got choked up; unable to put into words everything she had lost. Everything she wanted to know about Steve Rogers, her, and how Tony Stark fit into her life. Biting her lip she tried to contain the sob that wanted to bubble out. 

Thor moved over to her bed side and took his place on the stool beside her. He took her hand in his and put his other on her shoulder. Turning her head she pressed her lips to this hand, taking comfort in his presence at her side. _And, on her side._

“Maybe you should leave.” Thor said, looking at his parents. “Darcy has been through much this day.” 

“No.” She said in a hollow voice. “I wanna hear the answer.” 

The Queen cried silently as she spoke, “I saw you here, on Asgard, trapped. For years.” 

“How many years?” She asked in a brittle voice. 

“Many. Until Alice becomes a young lady at least.” Darcy let out a wheezing gasp. She honestly thought she’d be home by now, expected something miraculous to happen to reunite her with her life back on Earth. It was part of the reason why she resisted her feeling for Thor. So quickly one year had turned into two. 

It was a crushing blow to know her fate was to raise her daughter on Asgard.

“Erasing your memory was the easiest way for you to make the transition. To adjust to your new life. And, move on.” 

“To Thor.” Darcy said.. 

“It’s what I saw.” Frigga confirmed. “You two, smiling, happy, and in love. Darcy swollen with child, Thor already proud to be a father. It was everything a mother could want for her child.” 

“How could you--”

“There are only six fertile women left in all of Asgard.” Odin interrupted, seemingly abruptly changing the subject. 

“What?” She asked, annoyed. 

“It’s true.” Thor said with a nod, “We don’t know why or how to reverse it, if it’s a curse or poison, but it’s true. We’ve known it for a few years now.” 

“I just wanted my son to have a chance to be happy.” Frigga tearfully confessed. 

Darcy was pissed, so she went for the jugular. “Frigga, did you use magic to make me super horny this week?” 

The queens face flushed red. “Yes.” 

“Mother!” “By the gods Frigga.” 

Guessing easily at the woman’s motive, Darcy said. “You were trying to get me to jump Thor’s bones right? Get to work on that swollen belly.” Frigga nodded weakly. “Well, that blew up in your face big time didn’t it you manipulative bitch!” 

“Darcy.” Odin said her name, chastising. She glared at him, she understood his loyalty but she had no patience for it. Not now.

She turned on Frigga with a withering glare. “You will not speak, see, or hold Alice until further notice.” 

Frigga’s head jerked up sharply. “I beg your pardon?” 

“You heard me.” She said with venom. “You are hereby banished from her life and mine, until I say otherwise.” She pointed at Odin, whom over time she had grown fond of, even if she still feared him from time to time. “Family breakfast is cancelled.” She declared.

“And you,” She turned her accusing finger on Thor and some of the bravado left her. None of this was his fault. Her hand wilted in the air until it fell listlessly to the bed. “Fuck everything in this goddamn stupid universe, because of you, your mom wins. Seriously, I would love to hate you just to spite her and her evil machinations, but I don’t. I could never. Because I love you. Thor, I really do. And right now, I need you.” 

“Anything.” 

“Pick me and Alice up and carry us back to my room so I can get away from your mom without waking up my baby.”  
.  
.  
.  
Alice remained sleeping even as they transferred her into her crib. 

When Darcy curled up on her bed she pulled Thor onto it with her. He molded his body to hers and she felt small and precious and protected. They still needed to talk, but she was tired. It had been a long day and her arm hurt. She hoped he would fall asleep without saying anything else. 

She should have prayed instead of hoping. 

“I’m sorry for all that my family has done to you.” Thor whispered. 

Too tired to mask anything, Darcy laid all her cards on the table. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I have self esteem issues. And while some maidens might dream about falling in love with so many hot guys, loving someone so attractive and awesome, is kind of scary for me. I mean this whole situation is insane, but for me, the hardest thing to believe is you, being in love with me. I mean, you and Sif, you two make sense. But you and me? Have you seen you? I just, find it very hard to believe that someone who looks like you, who has your title, wealth, and power, could ever find something in me to love.”

“I noticed.” He said quietly, holding her just a little tighter to his chest. “You often speak self deprecatingly. You do not accept compliments easily, or without suspicion. And, you were very concerned with losing the weight you gained during your pregnancy.” He ran a hand over her stomach and kissed her shoulder murmuring, “You’re very shallow, it’s one of your worst qualities.” 

That made her laugh; putting a hand over her mouth she muffled the sound. 

“And despite that, I am in love with you.” Thor stated boldly. The smile left her face. 

She moved her good hand so it rested over his on her stomach. “I know.” Her sex dream and all that transpired during it came to mind, the details were fuzzy now, but she remembered the important bits. “I’m in love with Steve Rogers. And I think, Tony Stark?... And you. I’m in love with you too.” 

“I do not speak of familial love, but romantic.” Thor said to clarify what he thought was her misconception.

“I know. But like I told you when I was high on pain killers, I had that dream today. You, me, Tony, a nebulous Steve figure. I think I’m in love with all of you. All at once. And, even though I have no idea how I met Tony Stark. Or what Steve Rogers looks like. I think I love them. And I think I was with them, both of them, back on Earth.”

“It’s common here on Asgard, but I was under the impression Midgard did not practice multiple partnered relationships.” 

“They don’t.” She acknowledged. “Or at least the majority doesn’t.” 

“…but you did.” 

“I think so.” She squeezed his hand. “At least that’s what my gut says.” 

Thor moved his head closer to hers. “Your gut said my mother had deceived us. That she was manipulating us. You were right.” 

“My gut’s pretty reliable like that.” In the dark, the silence between them was like a blanket that she could wrap herself in, it was warm and comforting. She found solace in it. 

She felt unburdened in a way she hadn’t since she’d arrived on Asgard. The secrets were now uncovered, buried feelings were exposed, and now she was with the one person she trusted most. With him, she felt more like herself than she had in a very a long time. And for someone who had been thrust into a body she did not recognize and handed a child she did not know, being herself felt like an accomplishment. 

It wasn’t friendly how tightly they were pressed together on the bed. It wasn’t platonic, how acutely aware she was of every point of contact between his body and hers. Sure, she was still wary of his feelings being true love and not infatuation. She had her doubts because of his mom and all the bad blood between them. And she still worried about her Earthly lovers accepting her alien one. But she also had butterflies in her stomach when Thor said her name. 

“Darcy?” There was nothing between them now, but anticipation and she felt it keenly. 

“Yes?” 

“Can I kiss you?” 

“Yes.”  
.  
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.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to pussy foot around guys. Thor/Darcy is happening. But so is going back to Earth.
> 
> Also, Behind The Scenes tidbit, most of the dialogue in the sex dream was lifted from the end of Citizen's Duty and moved around a bit, but it's all lifted from Darcy's memories and not prophetic or psychic, just a reconstruction of how she feels/reflection of what has happened to her/how she thinks the others would act. + her Sexy horniness. ALSO, everything in italics in the dream sequence was what Magnar was doing to her in real life, but became incorporated in the dream until she woke up and understood what was happening.
> 
> Also, as far as Magnar situation is concerned, he grew up alone on a desolate planet, has no social skills and I believe he had a lot of psychological issues. However that does not excuse what he did, just explain how he got to be the pwerson he turned out to be. And what he did would be classified as Sexual Assault here on earth but ON asgard they call that shit rape and rapist usually get stoned to death by townsfolk...I'm just saying, Asgards very progressive.


	8. Chapter 8 – Three Through Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see snippets from every year Darcy is on Asgard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Past couple chapters labeled "One" and "Two", along with this chapter, should probably be labeled 'year one' 'year two' and 'years 3-15', but...I thought that would be a little annoying for those of you who can't wait for the reunion.   
> ANYWHO.  
> Here in this mega chapter, we are time skipping. Just be warned. And remember since the Bifrost got broken time moves differently on Asgard. For every 5 years on Asgard, only 1 passes on Earth. 
> 
> ********Trigger warning for miscarriage/stillbirth******(year 5 if you need to skip that part)

Chapter 8 – Three Through Fifteen

_Three_

It might have seemed to be on a whim that she asked Thor to marry her, but she had thought it through extensively. Arguably her timing could have been better. She proposed the morning before giving birth to their son, she reminded him she had possibly two men waiting for her back on Earth, warned him that she might want to marry one of them too, and made sure he understood that she did not see herself living on Asgard for the rest of her life. She did everything she could to talk him out of saying ‘yes’. 

Her efforts were breath wasted. He responded with, “My love for you is as endless as time. I have considered you mine since before it was proper for me to do so. I love you more every day that I know you. To be your husband would be a great honor and no less so if I were to share the title with your earhly paramours.” 

Odin preformed the ceremony and only Alice was in attendance, Darcy irrationally didn't want to share the intimate event with anyone else and Thor humored her. She didn’t wear white and they didn’t exchange traditional vows. Instead Odin used a ceremonial dagger to cut her palm and Thor’s, bound their hands with a magic scarf, and then declared them ‘married’. Alice threw a fistful of flowers at their faces screaming, “Hooray! NOW KISS!” 

When her lips met Thor’s she couldn’t help but laugh. She was so happy. Thor then turned to scoop up Alice and kiss her all over her face. 

"Are you pleased little one?" He asked her daughter. 

"Yes!" Alice shouted like getting the two of them together was something she had been waiting for her whole life. "And now you will live happily ever after like mommy's stories. Right?"

"I would like that very much." Thor said. And then he cuddled her close and sofened his voice. "You know in marrying your mother I have become your family as well."

Over the years Alice had sporadically called Thor 'dadda' or 'daddy' but more often she addressed him by his name. Darcy knew he wanted that to change moving forward, especially with the new baby on the way, he wanted to make sure Alice felt as if she was just as much his kid as their biological child. Though the tragic tale of Loki prompted them to be honest about her Earthly parentage, Alice had yet to fully embrace Thor as her father. For this, Darcy blamed herself. She'd gone to such lengths to keep Thor at a distance it made sense Alice had internalized that even if only subconsciously. 

Her daughter looked down averting her eyes as she casually stoked Thor's beard and mumbled a response. "Mmhmm."

Thor drew Darcy into the threeway embrace. "We are a family now. The thee of us."

"Soon to be four." she reminded him patting her belly. Thor stole a quick kiss before turning his attention back to the little girl in his arms. 

"My lady Alice, you know I would be honored if you thought of me as your father. Not just your mother's husband. For my love for you surpasses everything I have ever known to be true." Alice shyly looked up and met Thor's gaze. "I love you dear heart. And I vow to love and protect you as if you were my own. From this day until my last.."

Alice grew a little teary. "But--but--but mommy saided you weren't my real daddy. That we has different bi-bi-bilolly."

Darcy's heart clenched, instantly she doubted every decision she had made and cursed her inability to properly explain the complexity of the situation so that her 3 year old understood. Thor didn't skip a beat though. "T'is true. You are not of my blood, but I believe blood does not make a family. Love does. And I love you. And I know your true father does as well, never doubt that.” He pressed a warm kiss to Alice’s cheek. “And should we reunite with him on Midgard, we would take him into our family as well."

“Your sister and brother too.” Darcy added softly. Thor threaded their fingers together and gave her hand a squeeze. Alice looked so uncertain it made her heart beat a little faster to see that doubt.

Thor stared at her daughter with such earnestness. "Alice Ozma Lewis, I would like to call you daughter, if you'll have me?"

With a wobbly chin and silent rears tears streaming down her cheeks her daughter spoke tentatively. "Daddy?"

"Daughter. " Thor said back. Alice threw her arms around his shoulders and he hugged her. Darcy put a hand on her daughters back and rubbed soothing circles. Thor let go of her hand only to pull her into the embrace. Together they wept with joy and just held on to each other.

With a tender voice Odin said, "I now pronounce you, a family."  
.  
.  
.  
In a way, it was perfect. And since the whole affair was so spur of the moment they decided to let their friends know what they had done before it got announced to the kingdom at large. On the way to meet them, her water broke. 

The birth of Thor’s son was unexpectedly easy. Asgard had the best drugs and superior medical technology, for most of the labor she was numb and it was awesome. Enduring the contractions and all the waiting was honestly the worst part. After hours and hours though, she was rewarded with a perfect baby boy. Her son had blonde hair and blue eyes just like his father. 

To rub her moral superiority in Frigga’s face, she lifted the Queen’s banishment from her life so she and Odin could meet their grandson together. When the baby was placed in the woman’s arms she smiled softly and cooed, “Oh yes my little love. You were worth it. You are worth all that I have sacrificed.” 

Darcy was exhausted, but had the strength to roll her eyes at the Queen’s dramatics. “Yes, you sure did sacrifice a lot.” 

“What’s sacrifice mean?” Alice asked from her place in Thor’s arms in the chair by her bedside.

“Apparently it means lying and scheming to get what you want and trying to get people to feel sorry for you afterwards. ” Thor gave her a pointed look and Darcy averted her eyes. She was not acting like ‘the bigger person’ as she had claimed she wanted and knew it wasn’t fair to disparage her children’s grandmother right in front of them. 

Frigga cleared her throat and addressed Alice. “My little love, sacrifice is when you surrender something as an offering to the Gods.” She then passed the newborn over to Odin to hold for the first time. The King stared down at her son and smiled so softly he looked like a different person. 

“He’ll be a strong one.” Odin remarked sounding proud. Frigga nodded knowingly, peeking at the boy’s tiny face. The King cradled him carefully. 

“He has a destiny.” She added. “An old soul with a new body, reborn again to forge a new path.” 

“Hey!” Darcy said sharply, “You stop it with that mystic bullshit right now lady."

Frigga glared at her. “I only speak the truth.” 

“Well, how ‘bout you shut the fuck up completely then?” A loud intake of breath signaled her daughters surprise and had Darcy cringing. 

“Mommy!” Alice cried pointing at her mother, “Language!” 

This made Odin and Thor chuckle. As a sign of remorse Darcy reached out and patted her daughters knee. “You’re right baby. I used a bad word and I’m sorry.”

Alice nodded her head once absolving her of her crime. In a bossy tone she lectured, “Okay mommy. Just don’t do it again.” 

There was a beat of awkward silence and then the King spoke. 

“Tyr.” Odin said quietly. When Darcy met his eye it was shining faintly with unshed tears. “Queen Frigga is right. He is an old soul, one I have met before and did not expect to meet again so soon.”

“Father?” Thor said his voice full of anxiety. 

“He is Tyr.” Odin declared with majesty. “Tyr, the God of War, born anew.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“Mommy! Language!” Alice screeched again.

Darcy ignored her, instead pointing an accusing finger at both Odin and Frigga, she said, “No. Fuck you. You will not paint my son with a destiny of your choosing. He is his own person and not subject to your bullshit. If either of you two even think of meddling with his life like you have mine, I will kill you. I don’t know how, but I will. I will kill you and bury your bodies in pegasus shit.” 

“MOMMY!” “Darcy!” Alice and Thor were up in arms about what she said, but all that mattered to her was how Odin and Frigga reacted.The Queen looked pissed which she expected, but Odin smirked which was encouraging. 

Without saying a word the King moved to her side and handed over her son carefully. Before relinquishing all contact with the babe, he stroked a hand over her son’s hair and pressed a kiss to her own. “No wonder Tyr chose you as his mother.” Odin said in quiet voice, “The God of War has no love for the meek.” 

There was something about the way Odin said the name 'Tyr' that just felt natural, like a perfect fit. Which was...annoying. But looking down at her baby boys face the name echoed in her head pleasantly. They’d had trouble picking a name both she and Thor agreed on and she didn't like the idea of Odin naming her child. But...

“Tyr.” She said, testing it out. Odin ‘hmm’-ed in the affirmative and she shot him a nasty look for looking so smug. Then her eyes sought out Thor and found him smiling at her lovingly. 

“Tyr?” She said, the question clear in her voice.

“It is a good name. Strong.” Thor said with a decisive head nod. "I like it."

Darcy looked down at the baby. “Tyr.” She said with finality.  
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 _Four_

A few weeks after Tyr’s first birthday, Darcy accidentally brought a new holiday to Asgard. Christmakkuh. 

She quickly realized that if not for the birthdays of her children the passing of time was hard for her to track. The seasons in Asgard were of such mild differences, it was hard for her to distinguish Spring from Summer or Winter from Fall. And so, she just decided one day that it was December 24th on Earth and she wanted a tree inside the palace to decorate. 

Thor threw himself into celebrating her Midgardian traditions with gusto. He chopped down a tree himself and enlisted the Warriors Three to haul it inside the palace. Rigging up a tree stand had required two blacksmiths and an engineer, but eventually they managed. The tree Thor had chosen was insanely tall and home to a squirrel/rat creature (they discovered later on), but it was beautiful. And once they set up some lights to adorn the branches with, it looked even more so. 

She made it a family project to make ornaments. Alice and she made tons of twine wrapped stick creations to be hung. Thor gathered beads and he and Alice made shapes with wire for them to bead. They even hung some paper ornaments that Tyr had smashed some paint onto. 

It was funny because, beyond the Santa Claus and Miracle Oil stories, she hadn’t gone into detail about the holiday. Even so, Frigga had a menorah made and through Odin, gave it to her as a peace offering. The King himself made a tree topper and had one of his raven’s place it perfectly at the top of the tree.

The next morning to her great surprise there were tons of presents under the tree. Generously, she allowed Frigga to join them as Alice and Thor tore into the gifts. They were mostly from the King and Queen, so it only seemed fair. Besides, holding onto her grudge against Frigga during ‘the most wonderful time of the year’? It just seemed petty at that point. 

Truly, Darcy was content to watch her family revel in the joy of their first Christmas morning together as a family. Holding her baby boy and amusing him with the new doll ‘Santa’ had given him, she finally felt at home on Asgard like she never had before.  
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 _Five_

When Alice was five years old and Tyr was two, Darcy got pregnant again. Her fifth year on Asgard also held significance because it meant she’d been missing from Earth for one whole year. The pregnancy and gone-from-Earth-anniversary had her thinking of her other children a lot more often. 

She’d missed the first year of Maria-Sarah and Anthony’s lives. But now married and expecting and happy beyond anything she’d ever known, she was hopeful. Hopeful that she would one day return to Earth and reunite with her lost children. 

And then her baby died during the labor. She came to the conclusion that hope was cruel. Hope reminded her of what almost was. Hope made the loss of her children a physical ache that could not be cured. 

Lady Eir called it an intrapartum death, but Darcy called it a stillbirth. Either way her baby was dead and all the excitement and anticipation and hope and pain she had been going through to try to bring the little life in the world, it was all for naught. 

She was distressed to say the least. She lashed out harshly at Frigga, the woman had manipulated her and orchestrated her relationship with Thor supposedly for her fertility and child bearing skills. So to go through a pregnancy and birth and end up with nothing but a corpse, she felt betrayed. Enraged….devastated. 

For a while, she had no idea how to function after what had happened to her. 

In the wake of her loss, Frigga had taken her abuse in stride, enduring tirades of her awfulness, tantrums, and more. She only offered words of wisdom from which Darcy found no comfort. “It was the will of the fates, child. It is not our place to question what they bid, but learn from the pain and endure.” 

From that day on she was convinced the fates were fucking evil.  
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One afternoon not long after she’d been released from the Healing Center, Thor found her in the garden cuddling with Chip as she watched Tyr follow around his older sister. Alice was doing something secret and he was ‘helping’. They’d told the children that she was grievously injured and that it would take a long time for Darcy to get better. Alice understood what she had lost but Tyr was too young, they were going to make her a present to make her ‘feel better’.

She’d been worried at first that Alice would feel neglected after her brother was born, especially when she got pregnant again so soon after Tyr, but she’d taken the transition in stride and appointed herself the boys protector. Darcy often found them hatching schemes to steal cookies from the kitchen or play pranks on their father. It comforted her to know her children loved each other and got along. In the back of her mind the deterioration of Thor and Loki’s relationship always lingered, she knew it worried Thor too. Maybe even Odin? Both were so adamant to include Alice as a part of the royal family, to treat her like she was every bit an Asgardian as her little brother. 

Thor made his presence known by kissing her on the top of the head. “Hello my love.” 

In a way she resented him. He was hurt by the loss of their child as well, but she didn’t think he deserved to feel that way. It was irrational of her to feel like that, she knew the loss of their child was as hard on him as it was on her, but that’s how she felt. At least, some of the time. 

From her perspective the loss was not as powerful for him as it was for her. After all, he didn’t carry the baby inside him for months, she did. He didn’t give birth to their dead baby, she did. He wasn’t to blame for its death, she was. Besides crying together a few times and managing to explain to the children that they would not be getting a new sibling, they’d barely spoken.

“Hey.” She said despondently. 

Chip shook his head and barked once as Thor squished his way onto the bench with them, but a heavy handed pat soon had him settling back in her lap. Her puppy was no longer so little that she could maneuver him around so easily, but he brought her comfort all the same. 

Together in silence they watched as Alice and Tyr scurried from one bush to another. She was fairly certain they weren’t allowed to pluck the flowers from the special royal garden, but she didn’t give a fuck. And if the little prince and princess couldn’t break the rules, what good was their fancy titles?

“I am sorry.” Darcy’s head was slow to turn away from her children to look at her husband. But when their eyes met she found Thor’s shining with tears. “I did not protect you….” He paused to sniff back snot. It was then that she realized his eyes were actually red rimmed, probably matching her own. “I failed you. And I am still failing you because I do not know how to help you move on from this. I do not know how to recover myself…” 

“Okay.” She said mechanically. A piercing laugh from Alice made her smile but it was only a reflex. Across the garden her daughter had made a flower crown and put it atop Tyr’s head. He frowned and threw it off. She retrieved it and put it back on. He threw it off again. Alice cackled with joy, now chasing him as he ran from her, toddling away as far as his chubby little legs could take him.

“I love you.” Thor said quietly.

Darcy pushed Chips butt and the animal jumped off the bench. She pointed at the children and commanded, “Go to Alice.” The dog ran off obediently. She watched as her loyal canine jumped excitedly onto her daughter, knocking her down into the soft grass. Alice’s shrieks of delight increased as she received doggy kisses. 

Tyr, sensing his sisters ‘distress’ ran over and fell on top of Chip. The dog barked happily and knocked the two year old to the ground and proceeded to lick his face as well. Alice sat up and stroked the dogs fur as he assaulted her brother who was now giggling. 

Darcy moved over to Thor and sat herself in his lap, he seemed surprised by the action. She just needed to feel something that wasn’t pain and loss and suffering. She pressed her face into the warm skin at his neck, she was crying but his arms were strong and solid as they wrapped around her. 

“I love you too.” She whispered. Holding on to each other they cried quietly so as not to disturb their children happily playing together, innocently and unaware of how completely emotionally destroyed their parents were. “I love you.” She whispered again. “I’m sorry I killed the baby.” 

“Shhh.” Thor shushed. “Do not say that.” He stroked her hair and pressed a kiss to her wet cheek. “Do not say that.” 

“It’s all my fault.” She sobbed; hiding her face in his chest she found comfort, but not absolution. 

“You are perfect. Even in your imperfections, in my eyes you remain, perfect. You did nothing wrong. You should not feel guilty…but I know you will. Just as I will.” There was a hitch in his voice as he spoke. She could tell he was holding back sobs and her heart ached for him. “I am so sad.”

“Me too.” She clung to him tightly. The pain of the loss was like a lance in her heart.   
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A little while later the sound of the children approaching had them breaking apart and wiping their eyes. Tyr was holding onto Chip for balance but seemed unaware of their dour mood until he got close enough to see their tear strained faces. Alice however, was older and therefore understood a bit more about what was going on. 

Darcy forced a smile as she looked at her children. “Hey guys. Done playing?” 

“Mama sad?” Tyr said, worry coloring his tine. Chip equally read the mood and he broke away from her son and jumped up to be with her on the bench. The furry ball of compassion made whimpering noises and hugged her as best he could. Thor grabbed up Tyr in his arms before he could fall over the unexpected loss of his stabilizing influence. 

“Yes.” Darcy admitted as she pet and hugged Chip. “I’m sad.” 

Tyr reached out and pet Chip, seemingly at a loss with the information. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and sucked, soothing himself. Darcy felt terrible for causing him distress, but didn’t want to lie to her children if she didn’t have to. 

Alice climbed up on Darcy’s other side. In her hands she raised the flower crown she’d made and offered up a smile. “Mommy. I made you this.” 

Darcy reached out and wrapped an arm around her daughter, pulling her in close. She pressed a kiss to her daughters face and whispered, “Thank you baby.” 

Alice settled the crown on top of her head before wrapping her little arms around Darcy and Chip. Thor scooted closer and put his arm around her shoulders, offering support. Tyr fell forward, pressing his front to Chips back. The dog exhaled loudly but remained in place, offering what comfort he could. 

Thor rubbed circles on their son’s back. Darcy twirled the ends of Alice’s hair around her pointer finger and pressed a kiss to Chips snout. Alice rested her face against Darcy’s breast and began stroking Chips soft ears. 

They stayed like that until Tyr fell asleep. 

They stayed huddled together until the sun began to set and the air grew crisp. 

“Time to go in.” Darcy said, breaking the spell. Together, she and Thor gathered up their family and went inside for dinner.   
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 _Six_

At six years old Alice began training with her Pegasus, whom they’d named Cheshire. She argued Alice was too young to do something so dangerous…without supervision. Personally she’d never really ridden a horse and instinctively feared Alice getting thrown off, cracking her head open and dying. And so Odin began teaching Darcy to ride as well. It was…terrifying but awesome. And frankly a rather useful skill to have on Asgard.

“Why can’t I ride it too?” Tyr asked. He and Thor were on the sidelines of the training area, just watching.

“Only Valkyrie women can ride the Pegasus.” Thor answered.

“But you’re da the Prince!” Her son insisted. “Don’t we get ta—can’t Grandpa Odin make—make—make um, inception?”

“Exception.” Thor corrected. “And no, he can’t.” 

“But why?” Tyr whined. “Why can’t we do it too?”

“This is the way of things.” Thor said consolingly. He brushed back some of Tyr’s blonde hair and laid a kiss upon his forehead. 

Darcy smiled at him from her place on top of Cheshire, seated behind Alice for safety. She used her feet to urge the creature to run a little faster as they made their fourth circle around the training area. She thought the whole thing was sexist and stupid, only letting women ride Pegasus, but Odin was insistent. Said even he was barred from riding atop the creatures. 

Of course, he had the eight legged horse Sleipnir to ride around on, so perhaps the slight to his male ego wasn’t as great as it would have been. 

“It’s not fair.” Tyr pouted. Darcy and Alice held on tight as Cheshire leapt over a small obstacle.

“Very good.” Odin called out to them encouraging, “Soon you’ll be ready to fly.”   
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 _Seven_

Darcy knew she had developed some odd coping strategies, but wasn’t really worried about it. However she went to great lengths to hide what she did so she wouldn’t be judged. 

“Mom!” Alice called out as she followed Darcy around the room, “Tyr licked my hand!”

“I did not!” He shouted from the other room. “I had my tongue out and she just happen to walk into it!” 

“See! He even admits it.” Alice pouted. “He shouldn’t get desert today.” 

“That’s not fair! I only licked her hand because she said I couldn’t touch her practice sword!” Tyr whined as he came running into the room. “She’s a liar!” 

“Am not.” 

“Are too!” 

“HEY!” Darcy shouted catching the children’s attention. “I don’t care right now. I have to supervise two new art instillations at the museum and deal with Grandma wanting to buy something the artist explicitly doesn’t want sold and before I do all that I need to shower because I smell.” That made the pair chuckle and she managed a smile. 

Ruffling her son’s hair she admonished him in a kind voice. “Don’t lick your sister.” She then poked Alice in the nose. “Don’t exclude your brother.” 

When both opened their mouths to argue she held up her hand stopping them. “Any further complaints, comments, or questions can be directed at your father. He’s taking Chip for his morning walk in the garden.” She then made a shooing motion with her hands, joking, “Go children. Attack!” 

Grinning the children tore out of the room yelling, “DADDYYYYYYYY!”

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief once she was alone. She went into the bathroom and locked the door. She did have a lot to do that day, but she really didn’t have to leave for another couple of hours. She had some time to take care of herself, luxuriate in a bath, shave her legs…maybe even make sure she didn’t have any ingrown hairs. Picking out ingrown hairs had become something of an _thing_. 

At first she just found one red spot on her leg that looked like a zit, when she’d poked it with a needle she found a curled up hair hidden below the surface of the skin. She got such immense satisfaction out of digging the hair free with her needle, it was weird. She let the hair be free and un-plucked so it would grow normally now that it was not trapped under a layer of skin. 

But after that first discovery, she took to scanning her legs regularly after a bath or shower. Upon finding not many ingrown hairs, she switched from a needle over to a tweezers. After shaving her legs she used a tweezers to pluck any hairs she missed. The quick pinch of pain, the satisfaction of having removed the unwanted hair from her body, it became a ritual of relaxation for her. 

Darcy set out her tweezers, towel, and hair brush before turning on the water to fill the tub.   
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 _Eight_

“I am sorry Lady Darcy, you are not pregnant. I am afraid you experienced an adverse reaction to the Oclclat meat.” Lady Eir explained as she pressed a cool rag to Darcy’s head. “I would avoid it in the future.” 

She was unbelievably relieved. “Thanks doc.” Slowly she sat up from the table, “I’ll let Thor I’m allergic.”   
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 _Nine_

She knew Alice was going to be a heartbreaker one day, because at nine year olds her daughter was a beauty. It was no wonder to Darcy how she’d convinced Volstagg’s son Tuck to ditch school and join her on an adventure in the woods. 

“You shall never see that boy again!” Thor thundered. Alice and Tuck had gotten lost in the woods when a storm rolled through unexpectedly, the storm washed out the road home and left them stranded in the woods. She and Thor had been frantic in their worry to find the children once they’d been alerted of their absence from school. 

A search party had been formed and the woods scoured. Thor had been the one to find the wet nine year olds, huddled together and shivering, and apparently experiencing their first kiss. 

“But Daddy!” Alice was now home and safe, wrapped in robe, warms socks, and a blanket. Darcy sat with her on the couch, encouraging her daughter to drink from the steaming mug of tea as Thor read her the riot act. 

“Another sip.” She instructed, pressing the cup to her daughters lips. 

Alice ironically hated tea, unlike her name sake, and only drank the warm liquid at her behest. With a ‘yuck’ face she swallowed it down and pressed closer to Darcy’s warm body. Complaining quietly, “I’m not a baby anymore.” 

Darcy laughed out loud, even as she laid a comforting hand on her daughters back. “Oh, honey.” Part of her was so angry with Alice for disappearing and worrying everyone, but her relief overrode every other emotion. Her mind just went to the worst possible scenario; finding out her baby had given a boy a peck on the lips? She could care less. She was just glad to have her back in her arms, safe and sound. 

“You’ll always be my baby.” Darcy cooed as she snuggled her daughter even closer. She held out the cup of tea without looking, knowing Thor would take it from her, and then wrapped both arms around her daughter. Pressing her cheek to the top of the girls head she said, “Even when you’re an old lady with a bum hip and gray hair. You’ll be my baby girl.” 

“And if you continue to act as a child you shall be treated as one.” Thor said in a disgruntled tone. He was pissed about Alice’s disappearance but also about the kiss. Darcy found it adorable. 

He sat down on the small table in front of the couch where she and Alice were cuddling. “You should not have run off without telling anyone where you were going. That was dangerous.” 

Alice pouted. “But that’s the point of an adventure, not knowing where you’ll end up!” 

“It was stupid.” Tyr chimed in. Her son looked sullen as he stood on the other side of the room with his arms crossed. He’d been as desperate to find Alice as the rest of them, but upon discovering Alice had not been snatched up by some monster, but had run away with Tuck on her own accord, the boys demeanor had changed. “You’re stupid.” 

“Tyr.” Thor admonished. “Do not say such things of your sister.” 

“She could have died.” Tyr argued. “They both could have and it would have been her fault. You heard Lady Eir, another couple of hours and they would have frozen to death!” 

Darcy wasn’t sure if Tyr was jealous he wasn’t invited on the adventure or of his sister growing up in general. 

“We weren’t going to die.” Alice said plainly. “You’re all overreacting.” 

“We’re not actually.” Darcy said quietly. While she was grateful to have her baby back, that did not mean she’d let her think there weren’t consequences to her actions. She’d been reckless and thoughtless and put her life in danger, and she didn’t seem to get that.

“You’re not going to be riding Cheshire for a month.” Darcy informed her in a cool voice. “You will not be training with Lady Sif for two months. And you can no longer hang out with Tuck after school. And if I hear one whisper about you ditching school ever again, you will be home schooled by your grandmother for the duration of the year.” 

“MOM!” Alice jerked out of her loving embrace and gaped at her. 

Darcy stared back coldly. “I’m sorry. Did you think your dad yelling at you was your punishment?”

“You can’t be serious?” Alice pulled away from her touch completely. 

“Yes.” She said sternly. “I am.” 

“But--” Darcy held up her hand halting whatever excuses her daughter was about to use. She didn’t want to hear it. 

Grabbing her daughters hand she moved so she was looking directly into her eyes. “Honey, I love you. And I love that you are brave and adventurous, but--”

“But what?” Alice asked, her voice softening just a touch.

“You know that Thor’s not your biological father.” Darcy said. “That you and I are different? Baby, we’re human and you need to take that into consideration.”

“So what we’re human?” Alice whined, pulling her hand out of Darcy’s grip. “I’m just as tough as Tuck is.”

“No you’re not.” Tyr said quietly. Alice shot him a glare, but it was true. 

“We have to be more careful.” Darcy said. “More protective. Smarter. You have to be…responsible, about how you act and how you encourage others to act.” Part of her wanted to yell at Alice, tell her daughter she could have died while Tuck just got the sniffles, but she knew being loud and angry wasn’t the way to get through to someone. And it wasn’t the kind of mother she wanted to be. 

“I am responsible.” Alice grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“I know baby.” Darcy acknowledged, “That’s why you wear padding when sparring with Sif, without complaining. That’s why you wear a helmet when practicing on Cheshire. You _are_ responsible. I trust you, I do. But--you have no idea how much I want you to live in a bubble, safe and protected and never interacting with the outside world—but that’s not realistic.” Darcy’s voice cracked. She felt tears prick at her eyes and she fanned herself to keep them from falling. “Still. You need to understand you can’t just do whatever you want, especially when it puts your life in danger.”

“I wasn’t in danger. I was with Tuck. I was fine.”Alice protested. 

“Even if you think you’re safe. You’re not safe. Not from everything, not monsters, not magic, not human biology.” Alice rolled her eyes and Darcy felt a tear roll down her cheek. Her daughter didn’t understand what she was trying to say and it kind of broke her heart. Thor put a hand on her leg and squeezed her knee. She felt another tear fall just as she looked at Alice and said, “I wouldn’t survive it if anything happened to you. I—baby, I can’t lose you.” 

“You’re not going to.” Alice assured her, her tone softening at the sight of her mother’s distress.

Darcy stared at her girl. “You don’t know that.” 

In an instant Alice’s compassionate expression turned sour. “But. Me and Tuck just got a little lost. And then fell down a muddy ravine. And I know we looked messed up but—we’re fine! I’m fine!”

“This time.” She insisted. “You’re fine, this time. And maybe after you endure your punishment, you’ll learn to think before you act. Everything you do has consequences. And for people like you and me, sometimes those consequences are especially harsh.” 

“Mom, you’re being unreasonable.” Alice looked to Thor for support. “Daddy?” 

Tyr scoffed, “Like father would ever override mom’s authority.” 

“This is so not fair!” Alice cried as she threw off her blanket and stalked out of the room. 

Still a little annoyed about everything Darcy called out after her daughter in a mocking tone, “Love you too sweetie!” 

Thor gave her a pointed look. “Is that really necessary?” 

“Humor is my defense mechanism to scary emotions.” Darcy patted the couch and Thor moved to take his daughters spot, allowing her to cuddle up against his chest. His arms came around her and she finally let herself relax for real. It had been a very stressful day, from start to finish.

Darcy wanted to talk to Thor about how they would deal with Alice and boys in the future. Thor seemed so up in arms about the innocent kiss two scared kids shared, but Darcy wasn’t worried about that in the slightest. What scared the shit out of her was the prospect of explaining to Alice, that due to the way people aged on Asgard any boy she had a crush on now would be like a child to her later on when she was a teen or young woman. The complexities of raising her human child on this alien world were mind boggling. And at times, heart wrenching.

Tyr came across the room and climbed up on the couch with them. Wordlessly he wormed his way in between her and Thor and settled down. The three of them stared at the fire in silence. Eventually, drifting off to sleep.  
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Sometime later Darcy woke up to Alice covering them with a blanket. Her gaze caught her daughters and the girl blushed. “Sorry.” 

“You’re fine.” Darcy said. She then lifted part of the blanket and offered the girl her arm, inviting her to snuggle with her sleeping family. Alice moved into her side and Darcy tucked the blanket around them securely. 

“I’m sorry I worried everyone.” 

“I know.” 

“I love you Mom.” 

“I love you Alice.”   
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 _Ten_

For her ten years on Asgard anniversary, the fates were assholes once again. 

“She’s pregnant?!” Thor cried out joyfully. “By the Gods!” He lifted Lady Eir up and spun the woman around. 

She’d been throwing up and Thor had taken her to the healer to see if she had another allergy they didn’t know about. She’d been expecting something about shellfish, to hear instead she was pregnant once again…

“My love!” Thor said, setting down the healer he turned to her and cupped her face in his hands. The smile fell from his face and he frowned. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips then said, “Do not fear my love.” The terrible memory of her stillborn baby haunted her, he must have seen it written across her face. Thor kissed her again. “This is our second chance.”   
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Thor, Alice, and Tyr would barely let her do anything for the duration of her pregnancy. She was not allowed to lift anything, go anywhere, or sit down without someone hovering nearby. It was driving her crazy but she knew it was because they loved her, so she endured it.

Everyone was tense about the pregnancy. Still…

Putting her hand over her sons face she pushed him away from her. “Go away.” 

Stubbornly Tyr did not. “You needn’t do this. You have employees who could--”

“I am perfectly capable of hanging a painting in my own damn museum.” Darcy stepped up onto the tiny step stool and rolled her eyes when her sons hands moved to bracket her waist.

“Careful.” He counseled in a serious tone. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m a foot off the ground.” She said snippily as she hung the painting on the wall.

From across the room Alice yelled, “LANGUAGE!”   
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Darcy was especially horny during her pregnancy and Thor was especially stubborn and stupid. Sure, he’d go down on her for hours until she passed out pleasurably exhausted, but he wouldn’t fuck her for fear of ‘hurting the baby’. Six months in she reached her breaking point.

“Hey!” She said, slapping Thor on his naked shoulders. She grabbed him by the hair and tugged upward. “I am sick of your tongue, I need your penis.” 

“My love, in your condition--”

“In my condition I’m libel to walk over to the blacksmith and ask for a custom made dildo.” She pinned him with a serious look. “I literally give no fucks anymore. I need to have sex. And if you my husband won’t help me out, I have no problem letting everyone know I need mechanical assistance in bed to be thoroughly satisfied--”

Thor kissed the words out of her mind and made love to her until the sun came up.  
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The baby was born without any complications. It was a boy.

Screaming his lungs out, red faced and irritated, her baby was perfect. Lady Eir settled the babe at her breast and the skin to skin contact settled the boy somewhat, though he still looked fucking pissed to be there. 

Thor pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead. “You’ve blessed me again my love. Thank you.” 

As her family gathered round to see the latest addition to the family, Darcy could feel nothing but joy and love and tired. Alice and Tyr shared a smile as they marveled at their new little brother’s tininess. Thor continued to rain praise down upon her. Darcy basked in the love and spared a thought to her children back on Earth. Once again, hope flared to life inside her that one day her family would be whole. 

About ten minutes later they were joined by the King and Queen.

Alice lit up, “Grandpa! Look! It’s a boy! You owe me chocolate.” 

Darcy pursed her lips. “You bet on the sex of the baby?” 

Odin passed a small wrapped candy to Alice as he and Frigga drew closer to the bedside. Alice just shrugged at her mothers accusation before popping the candy into her mouth. Darcy let it go. 

Looking over at Frigga and Odin expectantly, she asked, “Well?”

“Well what?” Odin said. 

“What’s his name?” Darcy asked. With Alice, Tyr, Thor and herself all throwing around baby names for the last nine months unable to settle on one everyone liked, she’d resigned herself to the idea that Odin would probably know his name before she did.

“Isn’t that something you should be telling us?” Frigga asked with a hint of a smile. Over the years the tension between them had dissipated, but never fully disappeared. Still, the woman was a good grandma to her children and she’d been as comforting about her child birth fears as Darcy would let her. 

Looking down at her newborn she saw the babe wrinkle his nose adorably. She had no idea what to call him. “I don’t know.” 

Looking up at Odin she saw the same look on his face as the day Tyr was born. 

Her eyes flickered over to her eldest son. They’d told him that Odin thought he was the reincarnation of the God of War when he was five years old, but it wasn’t something they ever really worried about. Especially since no one really knew what it meant to be the ‘reincarnation’ of a long dead god, not even Odin. 

“Might as well tell us the Demi-God news now.” Darcy said to the King with a wry smile, “I know you know something old man.”

“I do.” Odin reached over and ran the tips of his fingers across the baby’s eyebrows. The boy’s face wrinkled and he looked irritated. “Hermóðr.” 

“Herma-what?” Alice questioned. 

“No.” Darcy said flatly. Her response had Frigga chuckling behind her hand and Odin outright laughing. 

“My love,” Thor said softly, his eyes glued to their newborn son. “He is to be a messenger of the gods.” 

“Like Hermes?” Her knowledge of Greek/Roman mythology far outweighed her Norse mythology even all these years later due to the movies and tv shows she watched in her youth. “Mercury.” She said recalling the Roman name for basically the same god. Looking around she realized no one knew what she was talking about. “We’re not calling him Hermador, or whatever, I can’t pronounce it and def won’t be able to spell it. So no.” She looked down at her baby, “Not that.” 

Leaning down she kissed her son’s head and the irritated look on his face disappeared somewhat. His little hand reached out blindly and Darcy let him catch her finger. He had a strong grip for a new born. Like his older brother he’d probably be blessed with Asgardian strength. She just hoped his half human status meant he’d age normally like her, as a demi-god that wasn’t a certainty. 

A name sprung to mind but she had no idea where it came from. “Zoran.” 

“Hmm?” Alice asked a silly smile on her face as sniffed the top of the baby’s head.

Darcy looked over at Thor and then Odin, a wide smile on her lips. “His name is Zoran.” 

Odin tipped his head slightly at her. “That is a fine name for the new God of Speed.” 

“New God?” Darcy questioned.

“Brand new.” Frigga confirmed.   
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 _Eleven_

Chip was not an overly large dog, but he was a good and patient one. Thor stood next to the dog, holding their son Zoran on the dogs back while Alice walked backwards in front of Chip with a treat in her hand. “Here boy.” She called gently, “C’mere.” 

“Ride my son.” Thor said in a quiet undertone. “Tame this mighty beast and make it your loyal steed!” 

“You are torturing him.” Tyr criticized from him spot on the couch, book in hand. 

“No!” Alice cried out defensively, pointing at their brother’s smiling face, “He loves it.” 

Zoran clapped his hands then grabbed the dogs ears and yanked, drool leaking from his lips and falling onto Chips soft fur. He looked like he was having the time of his life, as did Thor and Alice who were aiding his ‘ride’. 

With all the shade in the world Tyr licked his finger and nonchalantly turned the page of his book, replying, “I doubt Chip feels the same.” 

Seeing the wisdom in her son’s words, Darcy came to the rescue. “Come here Chip!” The dog ran to her, Thor pouting as Zoran began to cry. 

“Not it!” She called out as she cuddled Chip close and gently scratched at the back of his ears. “C’mon boy. Let’s go for a walk.” Her hand accidently touched the wet fur and she crinkled her nose. “And maybe a bath.”   
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 _Twelve_

Lady Sif was now training two of her children for combat, along with Thor, but mostly it was Sif who was their teacher. Darcy was nervous. As a demi-god Tyr was stronger than Alice and this was the first time they were being pit against each other. 

“Go!” Sif cried.

Her children circled studying the other’s movement. With a grin Alice taunted, “You’re going to lose Tyr-baby.” She knew from Thor’s complaints one of her daughters worst traits was her cockiness. Her overconfidence. It didn’t matter that she had picked up most skills as easy as some learned to breathe, she refused to believe she could ever be outmatched. “And try not to cry, it’ll only make it more embarrassing for you.” 

“Cut out the chatter.” Sif commanded. Tyr didn’t look bothered by the trash talk though. The older he got the more serious Tyr became. She found he was a very focused child, very intense. He loved hard and played hard, and sometimes it was a chore just to get him to stop practicing or studying. She often worried he didn’t have enough fun in his life, she did her best though. 

Without responding to his sisters words Tyr darted forward, rolled across the floor and knocked Alice down by slamming his body into her legs. Judging by the look on Sif’s face she could tell it was an unexpected move and one she had not taught him. 

In one quick movement, Tyr had the blade of his blunted sword at his sisters throat. A big smile adorned his face as he gloated. “What was that? I couldn’t hear what you said over the sound of you losing?” 

Darcy let out a laugh and grabbed Zoran’s hands making him clap for his brother. “Yay!” She said quietly so Zoran would know to be happy. The baby gurgled and flailed his limbs.

“Mom!” Alice objected.

“I love you both equally.” Darcy called back in a teasing tone. She then made a show of mouthing the words ‘good job’ to Tyr.

Undeterred Alice got back to her feet and looked down at her smirking brother. She offered him a hand and said, “Can we go again?” 

Taking it Tyr answered. “Sure.”   
.  
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 _Thirteen_

On her thirteenth birthday Alice started Aerial combat training on her Pegasus Cheshire. Darcy no longer having the excuse of ‘supervising’ her young child horse riding/flying, still attended her daughters practices but no longer had the pleasure of regularly participating.

But in a ironic reverse of roles, Darcy was ofen able to talk Alice into supervising _her_ on a joy ride/fly. 

It was an amazing experience and something of a bonding activity unique to the mother and daughter from Midgard. Flying with her daughter was a special and treasured thing, not just because of the ‘mythical creature’ part, but the exclusivity. No other Asgardians had ridden a Pegasus for centuries. Just Alice. And sometimes, Darcy. 

Up near the clouds, the wind in her face, her daughter at her back, the steady flap of Cheshire’s wings keeping them in the air…it was like nothing she’d ever experienced and provided a feeling of 'freeness' that only Alice could relate to.  
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 _Fourteen_

It was late. Darcy opened the door to the garden and watched as Chip flew past her, bounding out into the fresh air like a man just released from prison. She expected to have the run of the place, but she spied Frigga in the center of the garden sitting on her favorite bench. She was staring out into the night with a contemplative look on her face. 

Darcy knew she’d have heard Chips barking and yet the woman didn’t turn to greet them. She made her approach slowly giving the older woman ample time to tell her to fuck off.

“Frigga?” The Queen looked up at the sound of her name, an empty smile on her face. 

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” She asked, knowing the answer already just from the look on the other woman’s face. 

“No.” Frigga answered honestly. Over the years they’d reached an accord of sorts, but even still. A tension remained. 

“You want to…talk? About it?” She offered awkwardly. 

Frigga looked away. Out into the night, she stared as she began to speak with such unexpected vulnerability Darcy hardly knew how to react. “I’ve never been able to accept Loki’s death. Odin begged me to move on, focus on the love and life you and your children have brought to Asgard, but he…Loki is my son. Even after everything he did, I love him. I miss him.” 

Gently sitting down on the bench with the Queen. Darcy clasped her hands tightly together. “I’m sorry for your loss.” She nodded, “I know what it’s like to lose a child.” 

“That’s just it.” Frigga said, a broad smile taking over her face. “He is not dead.” 

“Say what?!”

“I used magic.” The Queen revealed with a joyous look, “My son lives.”

Darcy didn’t know what to say. There were so many things to consider when processing this information. How Odin would react. Thor. The political ramifications. Where he was. What he was doing. If he was still crazy and intent to rule. She didn’t know what to ask first so she settled on the obvious. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you.” 

A thought struck her like lighting. “If Loki’s alive…” The thought of it, she almost didn’t want to give voice to it for fear fate would come and snatch the hope of it right out of her grasp. “I can get my memories back.” 

The color drained from Frigga’s face, but she forced to smile. “Yes.” 

“This is…great news.” Chip came bounding over, a stick held tightly in his jaws. Darcy took it and threw it. 

“I have not locating him. I cannot…the image is hazy yet.” Frigga cautioned. “I would ask you to keep this to yourself until I…until I share the information with the King.” 

That was too much to ask. So Darcy told her so. “No.” 

Frigga frowned and put an edge in her voice. “Please.” 

Darcy stared back, “No.”   
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She told Thor the next day. His mother made him promise to keep quiet. And he ensured she would too. 

It would be a year before anything came of the revelation.   
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 _Fifteen_

“Husband,” Frigga said as dinner came to a close. “I have news.” 

“News?” Odin asked. 

Frigga looked over at her and Thor. Darcy blanched, she knew what the Queen was about to say and she had not expected her to do it in front of the whole family. Tyr and Alice looked at her expectantly, Zoran ignored her though, instead stuffing his face with desert.

A pit of terror settled in her stomach. But in her heart, hope flared to life like a trick birthday candle refusing to be snuffed out. Under the table Thor took her hand and laced their fingers together. 

“Our son lives.” Frigga said, her words taking effect immediately. Odin froze, his eye trained on his wife and widening in surprise. “And he needs our help.” 

“Loki?” Odin breathed out the name like he never expected to say it again. She could see the hope in him, the hope that his son lived and could be redeemed. Even after everything. 

Not reading the mood of the room at all, her youngest son jumped up on his chair. “Loki?!” Zoran then jumped up onto the long dinner table, using his super speed he ran to his grandmother and plopped himself in her lap. Bouncing with excitement he crowed, “We’re going to get to meet Uncle Loki!? That is so COOL!”   
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Alice and Tuck at age 9  


Alice Through the Years, end age 15  


Tyr, age 12 (kid pictured is probably like 9 or 10, but he was the perfect mini-Thor so, this is my headcanon)  


Zoran, age 5   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author note  
> So...I altered the timeline to put the Avengers Movie 3 years after the events of Thor instead of 1 year, because I already altered so much of the timeline and I figured there would be some kind of ripple effect.   
> AND so, we're going back to EARTH!!!
> 
> And reminder, due to wibbly wobbly timey whimeness, after 15 years on Asgard only 3 years passed on Earth. 
> 
> I hope you like Thor's kids. They are demi-gods, and yes Zoran is going to be modeled a little after "Dash" from "The Incredibles", but maybe only in powers and hyper little kid-ness.   
> .  
> .  
> .  
> TIMELINE clarification!!!!!  
> LAST TIME ON "CITZEN'S DUTY" & "SAVE THE CITZEN"   
> *Just so everyone's on the same page. As of the end of this chapter....
> 
> Alice is 15, son of Steve Rogers  
> Tyr is 12, son of Thor and reincarnated God of War (which has never happened be4 on Asgard), he's a demi-god but aging like a human rather than an Asgardian,  
> Zoran is 5, son of Thor and a new God, the God of Speed, he has powers  
> Maria-Sarah is 3, son of Steve Rogers, and Alice's twin sister  
> Anthony is 3, son of Tony Stark   
> AND*Frigga erased Darcy's memory using a spell invented by Loki and doesn't know how to reverse it
> 
> Back on Earth (as far as readers/Darcy know/knew since her memory got erased)  
> -Wanda was kidnapped by Hydra  
> -Bucky was still the “Asset” & with Hydra  
> -Scott Lang was in traction after brutal beating trying to save Wanda (Adult Halloween confrontation)  
> -Hydra is ‘out’ as far as hiding within SHIELD organization  
> -Steve & Sam are Bros, Steve works for Shield (kinda)  
> -Tony was going through events of IRON MAN 1 (but Darcy knows he survived thanks to Heimdall all seeing eye)  
> -& Darcy remembers NOTHING of the year where she met, fell in love, got pregnant, made friends with Jessica Jones, Matt Murdoch, and everyone else, but she KNOWS she was in a relationship with Steve and that Tony is caring for one of her children but ONLY SUSPECTS/has a gut feeling she was in a relationship with Tony AND Steve at the same time. She does not know what Steve looks like, but does know Tony because he was famous prior to their 1st meeting
> 
> And…I think that’s all the major plot points we need to keep refreshed in our minds as we move into the Second Act…!
> 
> Hope your excited about what’s coming up next. It’s been a long time coming and I know you’ve wanted the reunion since basically chapter 1, but thank you for hanging in there. 
> 
> !Also, sorry about the lack of update last week. This chapter just needed more time and work for me to work out the stuff you didn’t see in it that will get reveled later on. Cuz, this is just snippets from each year, so much more happened and …so much is on the horizon~!


	9. Chapter 9 – We Come In Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgardians return to Midgard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Covid-19 virus is messing with my orderly weekly updates and I'm mad about it.  
> Also drive by birthday's are stupid.  
> Also, also, I was gonna split this into 2 chapters cuz it got really long and the lead up to them getting to earth is like 7 pages, but after promising you guyz them back on Earth I decided not to do you dirty like that.  
> So this is like 17 pages long. 
> 
> ALSO, also, also, I have no idea if Bucky and Wanda are still in Hydra's clutches. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, opinions?  
> You want Bucky and Wanda to have been rescued in 3 year absence or nah?  
> If nah, story gonna get a bit longer than I thought, after we deal with Loki/Chitauri biz.  
> So, Let me know in the comments pretty please?

Chapter 9 – We Come In Peace

When plans were being discussed for the big return to Earth, Thor and his parents decided he would make the trip alone. It was a very unpopular opinion with the rest of the family. Darcy in particular was heartbroken. The three of them made compelling arguments as to why she shouldn’t go back to Earth, given it was about to be attacked. 

Through Frigga’s magical connection to her long lost son, they learned that Loki had gone to Earth with one goal in mind, world domination. He had a powerful new weapon, a scepter that allowed him to control people’s minds. And he had an army of evil space aliens waiting in the wings to help him win the world. They didn’t know a lot about the Chitauri, but they knew that Loki needed to use the Tesseract (which was described to her as a powerful weapon) to open a portal to bring his army to the planet for the big take over. This explained why Loki hadn’t started conquering yet even though they knew he was already on Earth. Once he had everythinghe needed destruction was sure to follow. 

If Thor was successful in thwarting Loki’s plan he would return to Asgard using the Tesseract with his brother in tow. They would use the weapon to repair the Bifrost and then Odin would force Loki into undoing the spell Frigga had put on her mind to erase her memories. When her mind was restored and the Earth was no longer under attack, that’s when they suggested she should return. That was _their_ plan.

Darcy did not give a shit about the impending battle. She wanted to go home, not just for herself, but also for her children’s sake. She wanted Alice to meet her twin sister for the first time, her father. She wanted to show Zoran and Tyr the beauty of her home world, share her own history and heritage with them. 

Her desires were deemed ‘short sighted’. 

Frigga whined about putting the future of Asgard in peril unnecessarily. Odin contended that the trip to Midgard would be too painful for them to endure, considering she and the kids were not fully Asgardian and he would be using dark energy to make the trip possible. But it was Thor’s reasons which actually gave her pause. He was her husband and the father of her children and every objection he raised came straight from his heart. 

She knew Thor didn’t want them to go because he was worried for their safety which she understood but disagreed with. She argued that Tyr and Alice were warriors trained by the best Asgard had to offer. She had no doubt that they could handle whatever they faced; in all honestly her eldest children were kind of scary and badass and was insulted upon their behalf at the implication that they would wilt in the face of the enemy. And as for her youngest? Well…Zoran had super speed; he was fast enough to outrun any and all danger. She maintained that it was irrelevant that he was quick to cry at the sight of blood and a mama’s boy. 

As they argued over the matter, because Darcy wouldn’t let the discussion die until she got her way, Odin changed tactics. He started pointing out all the ways Darcy’s presence would actually _hurt_ Thor’s chances of success.

"Child, I know you are headstrong but you must see the reason in what we say. Thor is going into battle. You are the love of his life, if you or the children were to be put in danger he would want to attend to your safety before that of the world. And it is the fate of your home which hangs in the balance. " Odin’s words were harsh but his voice was kind. “You are helpless. You have no power. No skill with a sword. And no way of contributing to Loki’s downfall. Even if you could survive the trip back to Midgard, you would only be a distraction.” 

Darcy saw red.

“Are you kidding me?” Staring down the King of Asgard, whom she had grown to know and love and trust. “I would be the distraction? Are you fucking joking?!”

her voice went ice cold. “You dare question me? You dare speak against _me_ going home, you mother fucking Glinda bitch from HELL?!”

“Darcy,” Frigga chastised, “Remember to whom you speak.” Odin maintained steady eye contact with her but Darcy saw no remorse in his expression. 

“I know exactly who I’m talking to.” She said in a dead voice. She cast a quick glance at her children, but not even their being there could stop the venom spewing from her lips. “You, you’re a terrible father. Loki’s on a rampage because you fucked him up!”

“Darcy,” Thor came to his father’s defense. “Loki’s actions are his own. You cannot cast blame--”

She started shouting over Thor’s words. “YOU LIED TO ME YOU MOTHER FUCKING GLINDA BITCH FROM HELL!” 

“Darcy!” Thor chastised her loudly, probably for her language, but she didn’t stop. And she didn’t take her eyes off the King. 

“YOU NEVER TOLD ME THIS WAS POSSIBLE! THAT YOU COULD SEND ME HOME WHENEVER YOU WANTED. YOU—15 YEARS ODIN! YOU HAD 15 YEARS TO TELL ME AND YOU NEVER DID!” Her voice broke as rage gave way to despair. “My babies. My newborn babies, I could have been with them. We could have been together.”

“Had I done that then, you would not be here now.” Odin said calmly, he waved his hand gesturing to her sons. “Nor would your family be so divinely blessed.” 

She ignored that argument because it was bullshit. “I have endured years of heartache and pain, wondering if my children were safe. If they were loved. Cared for. I—I don’t even know if they know who I am. If they know that I didn’t choose to abandon them… _you_ forced me too Odin. You-” 

A sob got caught in her throat. Tyr and Alice took a step closer to her back, offering silent support. Turing she stared at her daughter. Alice was tall and beautiful and blonde. She reached out and ran her hand through the yellow strands. “Alice has an identical twin sister that’s she never met.” Her eyes flickered over to Odin. “A twin who she will be more than a decade older than if they reunite today.”

Not waiting for a response from the King her eyes cut over to her husband. She felt a fleeting urge to strike at him for the dumbstruck look on his face. Doubt. Doubt of his character, his love for her, his words, their life together. She looked at him and wondered if really was the only member of his family that was trustworthy. Or was he just a very good actor? 

“Did you know?” She asked her husband. “Did you know that I could have been sent home by Odin at any time?” 

His lips were a hard line, but his shoulders slumped in defeat at her question.“I knew my father had the power to transport objects across the realms, but when I asked him if he could do it for you, return you and Alice home..he said it was possible but probable you would not survive the journey.” 

“I maintain that opinion.” Odin offered, a grim look on his face. “Darcy, you needn’t continue with this outburst. If you are patient I am sure Thor will return with the Tesseract so that we may--”

“Shut up!” She snapped at Odin, “Just shut up Odin.” Her eyes glared at Frigga then, daring her to say a fucking word about how she was speaking to the King. 

“You won’t survive.” Odin insisted, ignoring her order for silence. In her heart she thought he was lying. Not about them surviving, but about their being a threat to their lives during the journey at all. It was the perfect lie to buy her enough time to be trapped on Asgard to fall in love with his son just like his wife had plotted. It had to be a lie. 

“You don’t know that.” Tyr said. He looked to Thor for encouragement, but found none. Thor’s face was like stone. Undaunted, Tyr turned back to face the King. “You do not know that mother can’t survive the journey. That I cannot. That Alice and Zoran, that all of us are weaker for the human blood within us.” 

Odin stared at her son’s beautiful face and his expression softened. And yet he used the harshest words possible to remind him of the truth. “You are weaker.”

“But it’s possible.” Alice insisted. “There’s a chance you could use your magic to send us to Earth and we could survive the journey. All of us. Humans and demi-gods?”

There was a long stretch of uncomfortable silence where Odin refused to answer. Finally Frigga had to step in. “Yes.” She conceded. “There is a chance you would survive.”

“But I will not gamble with your lives.” Odin said in a booming voice. Anger brought a flush of life to his skin. In that moment Darcy saw the truth of it. The truth of Odin and his motivations, of his devastating omission.

“When--” Her voice came out like a croak. “Hhh-mm.” She cleared her throat and tried not to let her emotion get the best of her. “When I first arrived, before you knew me and liked me. Before Thor loved me, why didn’t you try to send me home then? You knew the separation from my newborn children and their father was killing me. You practically had me on a suicide watch!” A loud inhale from either side of her had her closing her eyes in regret. She’d never told Tyr or Alice of her history with depression. 

“Mother?” Tyr said in a small voice, for once sounding as young as his twelve years of life. 

“You were not worth the effort nor the amount of energy it would require to try to send you home.” Odin said. His words were like a dagger of ice to her heart…and yet, there was something in his tone. Something false.

“No.” She refused hoarsely.  
Frigga jumped in saying, “Think of what you have now because of what we did. I erased your past to give you a future. Odin did the same. You should thank us.” 

“Thank you?” Darcy scoffed. 

“Yes. Thank us.” Frigga insisted. “Look at your life now. Count your blessing girl. You are young and healthy. Pregnant again! Blessed again. You have a man who loves you and only you. A daughter and two sons, here. Right here, on Asgard. How can you be so ungrateful? You live a beautiful life filled with love.” 

“You’re right. I have a beautiful life.” She wrapped an arm around Alice and pulled the girl into her side, then did the same with Tyr. “And a beautiful family.” She pressed a kiss to her son’s temple. “But you forgot I also live a life of pain.” 

Thor scooped up Zoran and held him close, the pair of them moved to stand in line with her and the kids so that they formed a united front against the King and Queen. “I live everyday knowing my family is incomplete. I bear the weight of knowledge that my choices were not entirely my own. You manipulated me. You conspired against me. You trapped me here. And raped my mind. And lied to me. Over and over. All of you have lied to me.” A tear rolled down her cheek and quickly she wiped it away not wanting to appear weak but unable to contain her emotions. 

“You’re monsters.” Alice whispered. She watched as Frigga shuddered at her daughters words.

“We love you!” The Queen claimed in a strangled voice. Darcy looked at her sons, the children she would have never had if not for Frigga and Odin’s interference. Zoran looked so confused, he clung to Thor and she was grateful to her husband for providing her baby comfort. She had no idea how they would explain this all so that he could understand…

Tyr had a calculating look on his face. He turned his head and caught her staring. She felt another tear escape but did not move to wipe it away. Tyr wrapped one of his skinny little arms around her waist and gave her a look that said, ‘I’m with you’. 

“Despair, loss, depression. The joy I have found in spite of your manipulation does not negate the pain you have caused me.” Darcy looked at Thor. He nodded encouragingly, but she was done. She was spent. She had no more fight left in her. “You have to send me and the children to Earth with Thor. You—you just have to.”

“No.” Odin said stoically. “I do not.” 

“Father,” Thor he bent down to put Zoran back on his feet. Her son ran over to her and lifted his arms silently demanding to be held. She scooped him up quickly and cuddled him close. On her other side, Alice offered her little brother a comforting pat to the back. 

Stepping slightly in front of the rest of them Thor addressed the King. “Father, Darcy is right. So much of her life has been tampered with, by your hand and mothers. And that a shameful thing.” He turned to give her an apologetic glance over his shoulder. She smiled at him gratefully, but it was a weak smile. “I believe in my children. In my wife. They are strong. I know in my heart they will survive the journey to Midgard with no ill effects. You should send them with me.” 

“And just like that you’re on our side?” Tyr questioned Thor. She didn’t like the creeping suspicion in this voice. 

“He’s always on my side.” Darcy said confidently, her eyes flashed a warning in her son’s direction and he nodded ducking his head. Only to herself could she admit the doubt of what she asserted. Thor beamed at her. 

“No.” Odin said quietly. 

Thor turned back to his father, a whining tone entering his voice. “But father!” 

“I said no!” The King roared. In her arms Zoran whimpered at the anger coming from his grandfather. The sound had Odin’s attention, his unaffected façade finally cracking, he looked remorseful. 

Shaking off Darcy’s arm Tyr stepped forward to address the King. “If you do not send us all to Earth, together, I will stage a coup.” 

“Tyr,” Frigga said warningly, “You do not know what you are saying.” 

“We will be successful.” Her son said confidently. “Given what you said, the amount of dark energy required to open a one way portal across the realms will live grandfather incapacitated for months if not years afterward. I will dispose of Grandmother myself. And thus the kingdom will fall to my mother. And with the support of her demi-god children, her popularity with the Asgardian people, and currently pregnant status, I doubt anyone will question it when Odin never wakes up to reclaim his kingdom.” 

Tyr’s proposal was audacious. And Darcy would never go along with it. However, her son was the God of War reborn and she wasn’t certain she could stop him from doing it either. 

“What ya means dispose of Grandma?” Zoran asked innocently. “What does dispose mean?” 

“If Grandfather agrees to our terms little brother, you shall never have to find out.” Tyr replied glibly. 

Odin’s face looked drawn and sad. He fixed his one eye on her face and for a second she saw the truth of him. He felt awful. Shame and regret. Her discovering he could have sent her home at any time was agonizing for the King. Darcy could see how truly awful he felt. 

Odin spoke in a small voice as he addressed only her. “I do not know if the dark energy I need to use to open the portal with hurt the babe in your womb. Darcy, you are not a warrior. You are a mother. You should stay on Asgard. You will be safer here.” 

“No she will not.” Thor said sharply. He moved to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist and the coldness she felt building up around her heart started to thaw. “Father, Mother. I will not leave Darcy behind to be subject to your cruel games. I have been a fool to not see through your deceptions. I will not fail my family again. We are all going to Midgard. Together. And that is final.” 

He looked at her and she felt a swell of pride for her husband. Because Thor was a man of his word. A good man. A man whom she trusted with her heart and her future. Tears bled from her eyes and she gave not one shit. 

He tensed as she cried, but spoke to his parent’s with the same conviction as before. “And if when we are done my wife wishes to remain a world away from your constant manipulation, we will live the rest of our days on Midgard. And if that means renouncing the crown, so be it.” 

When Thor spoke again, she got a glimpse into the future. His future. He spoke like a King making a proclamation. “Father, you will send all of us back to Midgard. We will capture Loki and bring him to justice. And we will reunite Darcy with her long lost family.”

“Fine.” Odin muttered, defeated.  
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They all separated to gather supplies for the journey. 

The children came to her when she was alone in her closet, staring at her many long flowing dresses with glazed over eyes. She didn’t know what they’d need, but she sure as shit didn’t want to be trapped in a gown if they were going into a war zone. 

Her children asked her to tell them the story of Frigga and her stolen memories. She told them truth. 

They asked her if she wanted to live on Earth like Thor had suggested. She didn’t know the answer to that question. So she asked what they wanted. They told her the truth.

They talked a little about Loki, what they knew of him, how dangerous it would be to face him. To tempt him into doing the right thing, and helping her get her memories back. Tyr had many ideas on how they could compel the God of Mischief to do their bidding.

They spoke of Thor. The baby in her belly. Alice’s father. What it means to love someone. And war.  
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.  
Odin had never sent so many beings or objects across the realms using only dark energy. She could read how nervous he was in his body language, but she wasn’t worried. Even furious with him for all he had withheld from her, stolen from her, she still trusted in the King. If not in his power. He was the All Father and she knew in her heart he would not fail them. 

When it came time to leave Asgard Darcy felt as prepared as possible. There wasn’t time enough to make the rounds and say her goodbyes to the friends she’d made on her adopted world, so she drafted a few letters and left them with the Queen to distribute. 

Odin gave Alice a wooden shield supposedly made out of Yggdrasil that would have magical boomerang abilities as well as special extra shield-y powers, she knew her daughter had felt honored. She was dressed, for the first time, in her Valkyrie regalia. She had made some alterations to the armor, opting for a red cape instead of the traditional blue and donned a helmet modeled after Thor’s. But in Darcy’s opinion it just made her daughter look even more like an epic Asgardian badass. However after the big fight between her mother and grandfather, Alice didn’t even thank Odin for the gift. A divide between the King and Queen and the rest of the royal family was evident and Darcy didn’t know how she felt about it. She hated Odin and Frigga for all their manipulations, but could acknowledge how wonderful they had been to her children. They were attentive and loving grandparents and seeing her children treat them so coldly made her feel uneasy. 

The room was tense as they rigged up Cheshire to the Chariot she would use to carry Thor and the others across the realms. Odin suggested that holding hands wasn’t enough to keep them together as they passed through his dark energy portal. And yet, they would have to remain connected for the trip if they didn’t want to end up spit out at random places all over the globe. And random times. Tyr had been the one to suggest using Alice’s Pegasus and a small Chariot to transport them all. Odin seemed optimistic about it working, which was good enough endorsement for her. 

It was decided that Alice and Darcy would sit astride the animals back while the boys sat in the attached carriage, with Chip, whom she refused to leave behind. The possibility that they would never return to Asgard loomed in mind and she wanted to take no chances when it came to those she loved.

Before getting up on the Pegasus’s back, Odin pulled her to the side for a private word. “You might have to kill him.” He warned without preamble. “Thor—he will not be able to kill his brother. His love for Loki is too strong. But I fear my son’s madness has made him too dangerous to be allowed to live…So, if it comes to it, you will have to kill him.” He then produced a small vial from one of his pockets and put it in her hand. “This is the blood of Ymir. If the worst should happen, you drink it. It will give you immeasurable power and allow you to slay any enemy in your path.”

“So why not give it to Thor?” She questioned. “Or Tyr?”

“God of War he may be, your son is a child.” He said in a hushed tone, “And I told you, Thor will not kill his brother. Unfortunately Loki knows this as well. My son—Thor is a magnificent warrior, but his heart is soft.” 

Ignoring his characterization of Thor Darcy took the vial and held it up in front of her eyes. It was blue. “Who is Ymir and why is his blood blue?” 

Odin looked annoyed. “Child, that doesn’t matter. Just--know that there is no more of this power in the universe and I have entrusted _you_ with it. Should you be the last one standing in battle, use it. And keep in mind that the power, while nearly unlimited, is temporary.”

Her eyes shifted back to the King. She hated him. At that moment in time, she hated him more than she had ever hated anyone in her life. But at the same time she knew she would get over it eventually. Or at least, she hoped she would. Hating someone took up a lot of energy. And more importantly, hating someone and never trusting them again, were two separate things. 

“Thanks.” She said simply. 

When she went to slip the vial into her pocket she was foiled by her ridiculous outfit. Everyone had insisted Darcy dress for battle just like the rest of her family, not that she would be fighting, but for her own protection. Years ago Odin and Frigga had gifted her a magically enchanted set of gaudy armor, she thought it for show but it was apparently made of the same Uru metal that Mjolnir was. While wearing it she would be nearly invulnerable. And so she found herself stuffed into an unfamiliar golden get up and constantly surprised by how comfortable and light weight it was. 

Odin took the vial from her hands and slipped it into a small pocket on her belt next to her scabbard. It was also her first time wearing a sword and kept whacking her leg accidently. She felt like a child playing dress up. Or a fraud. She wasn’t stupid; she knew the reality of her value in the battle same as everyone else. She would be useless in the fight against Loki and no amount of magic armor would change that. She was a passenger in this crusade to save the world. 

Which probably explained why Odin had just handed her a magical ‘dues ex machina’ vial of blood. 

Assuming the interaction was finished, Darcy moved to leave, but a hand on her shoulder held her in place. Odin looked her in the eyes and said, “I hurt you.”

“Yes.” She said, her hands were shaking with anger or emotion she didn’t know. 

“I would not change a thing.” Odin said softly, “Even hurting you was worth the time I got to spend with you and the family you’ve given me.” The King could be such a dick, she thought but did not say. 

“I wanted to keep you.” He confessed. “I was selfish.” 

Darcy stared at him and saw the remorse she had yearned for earlier when they were fighting. “I don’t forgive you.” 

Odin nodded in acknowledgment. 

She let her gaze wander back to her family. Thor was adjusting Alice’s helmet. Tyr was off to the side taking practice swings with his axe. Zoran was sucking his thumb and idly petting Chip, already seated inside the chariot and looking equally ready for a nap and to go. 

Frigga was hovering near Thor and Alice, looking as if she wanted to say something to them but knowing her words would be unwelcome. She’d never seen the Queen look so unsure of herself. Spitefully she enjoyed seeing Frigga so troubled. 

Odin had hurt her by keeping her on Asgard when there was a way for her to go home all along. Frigga had hurt her by stealing her memories without any way to give them back and casting an aphrodisiac spell on her, which retrospectively had her questioning her relationship with Thor. Or at the very least, Thor’s feelings for her. After all, it never made sense that someone like him found happiness in someone like her. She worried now, that Frigga interfered in their relationship from the beginning. The Queen’s vision of the future guided her hand to push her and her son together, Darcy couldn’t help but wonder just how hard the woman had to push.

The King and Queen had fucked her up almost as much as they had Loki. And if there was irony in that, she was too emotionally scarred to appreciate it. And yet, she thought there was hope…

“Odin?” He looked up and harrowed by the sound of her voice . “You’re an asshole.” He frowned. And she smiled at his reaction. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “But I love you anyway.” She told him. “And one day, I hope I can forgive you.”

In the back her mind she was counting on forcing Loki to restore her memories. And once remembered, she doubted she would want to part with her Earthly family ever again. If that meant remaining on Earth or taking them back to Asgard with her, she didn’t know. But either way it was probably best to leave on civil terms with the King.

In the fifteen years she’d been there, Odin had been like a father to her. At times a crappy father, but a father nonetheless. It’s why his betrayal cut so deep. She gave herself permission to forgive him in the future and be mad in the present, but still stay goodbye like she wanted to. Because she cared about him. It could be seen as weakness, her soft heartedness, but she just didn’t have it in her to leave Odin with no hope of reconciliation. Especially if this was the last time they ever saw each other.

“I will always think of you as my kin.” Odin said in a low voice. Her pregnancy hormones had her wanting to bust out crying, so she changed the subject abruptly. 

“We won’t kill Loki unless we have to.” She promised, her eyes drifting over his shoulder to a shocked looking Frigga. She knew Odin loved Loki just as much as he loved Thor, no matter what he said or did, he was Loki’s father. He cared. Under all the bluster and bullshit, Odin cared deeply for his family. 

“Kids!” Darcy called out as she wrapped her arms around herself. “Everyone hug Grandma and Grandpa goodbye.” 

“But he betrayed you!” Tyr protested even as Zoran zoomed across the room to her and Odin, the burst of air made her stumble back a step. How her son managed to climb up someone’s body defied logic, and made her laugh. Odin smiled and pressed a kiss to her five year olds cheek. 

“Bye bye Grandpa Odin.” Zoran said softly as he buried his face in the older man’s beard. 

Darcy moved over to Tyr. He would forever view his Grandparents with suspicion, the instinct was in his nature, but after all that had been revealed about how she had been treated, their relationship was tainted. She didn’t know if it could ever be repaired, but she wanted him to know it was okay to try. 

“Honey,” She brushed her hand over his shorn blonde locks and put an arm around his shoulders. “You can be mad at someone and still love them.” 

She guided him over to Frigga and pushed him into her arms. “Betrayal. Pain. Lies. Sorrow….We’re family.” A tear rolled down the older woman’s cheek as her son stiffly hugged her. Darcy stepped back from the pair. “And with enough time and love, families can forgive each other almost anything.”

Frigga looked touched by the gesture, especially when Alice came over and joined the hug with her brother and grandmother. “Bye Grandma.”

Odin, carrying Zoran, joined the group hug between grandchildren and grandparents. She wasn’t surprised when Thor came up from behind her and hugged her.

“I’m not saying I forgive them.” She explained without being asked. “But…” He’d said it himself, they might not ever come back. She couldn’t let her children’s last memory of their grandparents be one of pain and anger. Thus the impotence of saying goodbye. 

He let her go and moved around so he could look at her face. He put his hands on her shoulders and just stared at her. Unmoving and not speaking, it became uncomfortable after a few seconds. She pushed at his chest half heartedly admonishing, “Stop it. You’re being weird.” 

“Thank you.” He breathed out the words. “My love, truly, your heart is a thing of beauty. I am in awe of you.” 

She pressed a kiss to his lips and pushed him away from her. She gestured over to his parents. “Go say goodbye Thor.”  
.  
.  
.  
The trip to Earth was quicker than she expected and more painful. Light surrounded them on all sides and it was so blinding her eyes burned despite being closed tightly. 

As they traveled it felt like electricity was licking at her skin. There was no air to breathe. And immense pressure pressed down on her making her feel like she would crumple under the force. Her teeth felt like they were liquefying in her head. Her hair felt like it was on fire. Nausea rolled in her stomach and just when she thought she was going to barf, it all stopped. 

The smell of ozone and a flash of lightning signaled their arrival. They were home. Her home. Earth.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.

With a gasp Darcy sucked in air greedily. And once she had the breath she let out a scream because they were falling out of the sky. 

In front of her Alice yanked back on Cheshire’s mane screaming, “Wake up girl! WAKE UP!” 

With a pained Winnie, the creature came to life. Idly Darcy wondered if the Pegasus had lost consciousness or just got confused. Cheshire’s great big wings flapped to life and they leveled out from the freefall. Turning her head she checked on her men. Thor still had one arm around each of her boys, they all looked unsettled but unharmed. She put a hand to her belly and spared a thought to her unborn, but then a bark from Chip had her smiling. 

They were okay. They were all okay. 

“We made it.” Tyr said sounding relieved, “I knew we were strong enough.” 

“Really? I kind of assumed Odin was lying the whole time. About the trip being dangerous.” Darcy revealed. “Boy was I wrong. ‘Cuz that sucked.”

Zoran jumped up and out of his father’s arms, his powers of speed made him hard to control at the best of times, but up in the air after such a harrowing journey, Darcy’s heart leapt into her throat as her five year old zoomed across the small gap between chariot and Pegasus butt and into her arms. 

“Don’t do that!” She yelled in horror. Securing him in between her and Alice with an arm around his waist, Zoran seemed unaware of how dangerous his actions were. Putting both arms straight out imitating a bird he flapped his arms in time with Cheshire’s wings. 

“We’re flying!” He cried out joyfully. “This is so cool!” 

“Alice. Set us down over there.” Thor ordered, pointing to a rocky mountain ledge. “Heimdall said they were in a vessel that should pass overhead shortly.” 

“Got it!”  
.  
.  
.  
Once on the ground there was a tense anticipation in the air that even Zoran seemed aware of. They stood around in silence waiting for Thor’s superior Asgardian ears to hear the jet carrying Loki coming.

“I’m hungry.” Zoran grumbled under his breath. 

“Shh.” Tyr shushed his brother sternly. 

“No need.” Thor said as he held up Mjolnir for display, “They approach.” He smiled at them confidently. “Time to go and retrieve Uncle Loki.” 

“And then bring him back here.” Tyr said pointing at the ground. “Right here. So we can interrogate him _together._ ” 

Thor ruffled his son’s hair with a proud looking smile. “Aye, son. We’ll get him to reveal the location of the Tesseract. That is the plan.” 

Thor looked at her and smiled with assurance but there was something in his eyes akin to pain or maybe it was fear? The loss of his brother had wounded Thor deeply, this she knew. She suspected he was putting on a brave face for their benefit. She just hoped that when he finally got to confront his brother he wouldn’t let his emotion get the best of him. Like so often happened to her. 

“Be right back.” He promised. And then he took off into the dark night sky above. 

The smile fell from her face. She had no doubt that he would bring Loki back just as he said he would. He was the God of Thunder. She had no reason to worry. And yet, she did anyway. _For so many reasons._

Once he was out of sight Tyr fixed her with a look. “Mother, I do not want you to worry. If we stick to the plan, all will be well.” 

Jerking her eyes to the ground she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She and the children had plotted behind Thor’s back, though, not intentionally. Organically while they were speaking in private a plan started to form to help get Darcy what she wanted. And even thought they had good reason to keep him in the dark, she still felt as if they were transgressing. 

“We can do this mom.” Alice encouraged, probably sensing her rising doubts. 

“Are you sure?” Zoran asked, he was seated on top of Cheshire sidesaddle, his thumb in his mouth again occasionally impeding his speech. “A’cause I thought that mama just got mad at Grandpa for keeping sec-er-rets, like two hours ago-ed.” 

Tyr moved over to his little brother and straightened his helmet. “Yes. And then she forgave him. Didn’t she?” Her son was oversimplifying things to mollify Zoran. There was deception inherit in their actions, her youngest had a very clear sense of right and wrong. She could only hope it would not be their downfall. 

“Yeah, but…” Zoran frowned. “But! I don’t get why we’s got to keep everything sec-er-ret from daddy. He-he-he’s _daddy!_ He’s are side. He wants mommy to get her member-berries back just as much as us do.” 

Alice moved over to them and put an arm around Zoran’s little shoulders, hugging him into her side gently. “We told you. We’re just being careful. Dad loves mom just the way she is. And he loves Uncle Loki. So, we don’t know how he’ll react. So, keeping him out of our plans just makes the most sense. Once it’s all over, we will explain it and he’ll understand.” 

Her daughter believed what she said, she could hear the earnestness in her voice. Nausea rose up inside Darcy once again. She put a hand on her stomach and told herself not to puke.

Tyr looked over at her, catching her eye. “Remember. Once we have Loki, we need to strike quickly. No hesitation.” 

She gave him a small nod of acknowledgement, at least on that she had no problem agreeing. He looked relieved. Shifting his gaze to Zoran, Tyr looked searchingly at his brother’s face. “You can handle this right Z?”

Zoran nodded eagerly. They all knew it was a risk leaving such a vital part of the plan in the hands of a five year old, but they had no choice. Zoran was the God of Speed and time was of the essence if their plans were to succeed. 

Suddenly, Thor returned and Loki was thrown down onto ground precariously close to the mountain ledge. The dark haired man let out a grunt of pain and then laughed. 

Thor loomed over him with a serious expression. “Where is the Tesseract?” 

Still laughing Loki said, “I missed you too.” 

Angered by his brothers flippant tone, Thor warned, “Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!”

Lifting his head slightly Loki responded, “Oh, you should thank m--” He froze as he caught sight of the rest of them. 

Zoran waved at him enthusiastically, “Hiya Uncle Loki!” Her son then must have remembered Loki’s villainous status because he made a pouting angry face and pointed at the man. “You’re in biiiig trouble.”

Loki’s eyes widened and he sat upright quickly. “Uncle?” 

Cheshire whinnied and stretched her wings catching the god’s attention. Loki scoffed, “Father gave you a Pegasus?!” 

“Don’t be silly.” Alice said with a cocky look on her face. “Grandpa gave _me_ the Pegasus.” 

“Grandpa?!” Loki’s eyes moved slowly over all the children and then came to a stop on her. A flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes. She’d heard from Lady Sif how she first met Loki. He was at the height of his madness, on the cusp of genocide and she was dying and in the middle of childbirth. In her hour of need, he showed her mercy. Let her get to Lady Eir in time. In a lot of ways the man before her lying in the dirt had saved her life and sealed her fate for the past 15 years. Softly he said, “You…I remember you.”

“Hi.” She said limply. 

“Now?” Zoran asked his sister, Alice shook her head no. Darcy’s heart beat a little faster.

Loki’s eyes narrowed. And then he appeared to calm. He smirked at Thor. “And just what have you been up to while I have been gone? Hmm?”

“We thought you dead.” Thor told him humorlessly. “Or you would have been invited to the wedding.” 

“Wedding.” He said with a shark like grin. “You stole her, brother? This mortal?” He looked her up and down and Darcy couldn’t help but cower under the weight of his sinister gaze. “I suppose she does have adequate birthing hips.”

Thor dropped Mjolnir causing the mountain to quake, he looked pissed and pained all at once. The emotion between the pair of Gods was thick and complicated, everyone could feel it. Sensing her distress Chip began barking aggressively at the trickster god as he scrambled to his feet, but before he could stand on his own Thor grabbed him around the neck. 

“A family is everything to a man or a god.” She said quietly. Her words were for Loki but she didn’t think he was listening. “You should not mock him so.” 

“I thought you dead.” Thor repeated.

Loki’s eyes flickered over to her and the kids. “And in your mourning you married below your station and set to squirting out a bunch of half-breeds?” 

“Zoran!” Tyr called out authoritatively. “NOW!” 

Darting forward Tyr picked up Mjolnir from where Thor had dropped it on the ground. With a burst of speed Zoran was in between the Gods and forcing them apart. Thor stumbled back while Alice darted forward grabbing Loki by the arm, preventing him from pitching off the side of the mountain. 

She threw Loki to the ground, but before his butt fully made contact with the dirt once again, Zoran was by his side and stabbing him in the neck with a syringe. 

Thor’s eyes widened as he watched the children’s coordinated attack. “What are you doing?!”

Zoran had to remain at Loki’s side long enough for the liquid to fully leave the syringe, this left him vulnerable for a few seconds. The God growled and went for her baby, but Alice was there. She sent a swift kick to the God’s face allowing Zoran to zip away from him unharmed once the task was complete.

“Alice!” Thor cried as her daughter darted away from Loki before he could react. But it was too late. The poison they’d injected him with was fast acting. 

And it burned. He felt the effects almost immediately. 

“Ahhh!” Loki cried out clutching his neck as veins popped out visibly. With a growl he lunged for Darcy, but he didn’t make it very far. Thor kicked him in the middle of his chest knocking him back. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Thor thundered, his eyes were wide and trained on her. 

“I don’t know.” She answered, because this was the moment, she was supposed to explain to Thor what they were doing, why they didn’t include him. And if he reacted adversely, Tyr would hold him off while they did what they had to. But the words wouldn’t come. Her explanation felt false. So she repeated, “I don’t know.” 

“We’re doing what needs to be done.” Tyr said, taking the attention off of her. Her husband looked enraged. 

“Mama?” Zoran was by her feet reaching up for her. She picked him up and cuddled him close. She did that a lot, cuddling small vulnerable creatures to her chest to make herself feel better. She did it with her dog and she did it with her children. 

She’d never felt like a failure as a mother, not to the kids she actually go to raise, but she felt like one now. She could literally feel herself fucking up. And she had no idea how to fix it. How to stop what they had put in motion. 

“We’re going to force Loki to restore Mom’s memories.” Alice explained as she moved to stand side by side with Tyr who still held Mjolnir in his hand. “We injected him with poison that will kill him in the next thirteen minutes unless we give him the antidote.”

“You did what?!” Thor turned and looked at her imploringly. “My love, tell me you had no part in this madness.” She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t even look him in the eyes. 

“If you really love her, you won’t stand in our way.” Tyr’s voice softened as he implored his father to listen. “We just want to restore her memories. Give her back what Grandmother took from her. Make up for what Grandfather did.” 

Thor took a step back away from all of them. He looked so hurt. She could feel herself falling apart on the inside. “Honey,” Her voice broke, “I’m sorry.” 

Loki laughed, bitterness seeping from his pores as he soaked in his brother’s anguished expression. In response her husband’s face became like stone. He looked at Tyr. Her son raised his chin and stood straighter under his father’s eyes. 

“This was you.” Thor said, the accusation clear in his tone. “You planned this. You convinced her. This is your doing.” 

Tyr said nothing in his defense. But Alice did. “We all planned this. We want to help mom. Don't you?” 

“Give me the hammer.” Thor held out his hand expectantly. “Administer the antidote and I will forgive you.” He looked around at the rest of them. “I will forgive all of you.” 

His eyes stayed on her and she felt her resolve crumbling. “Darcy…tell the children this isn’t necessary.” 

“The irony of this moment is not lost on me.” She assured him. “Especially after what Odin did--”

“I am not my father!” Thor exclaimed. 

“I know!” She yelled back. Her eyes felt wet. She stroked Zoran’s back to soothe herself. “I know your not him.”

“But?” Loki prompted with a grin. Darcy scowled at him, refusing to rise to the bait she kept silent. Loki finished the sentiment for her, reading her like a book, he taunted, “But you were raised by him!” His eyes gleamed as he looked her up and down once more. “So, Thor had mother steal your memories so he could have you for himself? How scandalous.”

“That is not what happened!” Thor boomed, his angry response had thunder rumbling over head. 

“But it could be.” Loki said knowingly. “Couldn’t it?” 

“Dad. We all know you love mom. No one is saying you don’t. It’s just--” Tyr spoke softly. “You would do anything to keep her safe. Is it so crazy to wonder if, that like Grandpa, you would do anything to keep her, period?” 

“Or that you would fear losing her affection when she remembered my father?" Alice said in a small voice. 

“Darcy?” Thor sounded broken and she felt it in her bones. His pain, was her pain. And she didn’t know how to stop hurting him. “You do not think these things of me. Do you?”

“No.” She said quickly. “No.” She set Zoran down on his feet and watched as he ran to Alice. Her daughter comforted her son, holding him close and whispering ‘it’ll be okay’ in his ear.

“Then why are you doing this?” Thor asked.

“Because she does not trust you, brother. Obviously.” Loki sneered weakly. His face was growing paler though, there was no doubt that the poison was doing what it was designed to. 

“I love you, Thor, I do. But---you can't be as okay with all of this as you claim to be! It’s just not possible. No one is that confident, that sure about the integrity of their relationship! It’s like you have no doubt at all that anything will change between us once I know what your mom wanted me to forget, so that I’d fall in love with you.” She clenched her hands into fists as her anxiety grew. "You have to be afraid of me remembering the men I loved before you, afraid of how you'll comapre, if I'll love them more, if they'll hate you for taking me away. If I’ll hate you for making me forget them."

Thor looked torn. “No. My love, that’s not true.” 

"It’s not possible for you to love me so much that this shit does not scare you. After—it’s inevitable that after all the curses, all the lies, the reverses, and…this. Things will change. How can you not worry it won’t get worse? When I’m me again. You can’t tell me you know it will be okay. That our family won't suffer. That our children won't feel neglected. That you won’t resent me. That I won’t resent you.”

"Darc--" Thor tried to interrupt but she raised her voice talking over him. "You can't be eager to share me with some other guy you barely know and maybe another you've never even met! You can't mean it when you say you'll move to Earth to be with me. Give up the crown for me....you have to be terrified that, me remembering who I was means upending the life I’ve built with you."

After her impassioned rant, it grew quiet. Thor took a step toward her. "My love," Compassion colored his voice. He spoke softly as if afraid to spook her. "Those are your fears. Not mine."

"No one is that good." Darcy insisted, but her voice was weak. She put her hands over her face to hide the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. 

"Daddy is." Zoran said. A tentative hand on her arm. She could smell Thor’s spearmint soap as he hovered in front of her. 

“I don’t want to lose you. But I’m terrified it’s all a lie.” She confessed as she collapsed against Thor’s chest. “What if it’s all a house of cards?” He was slow to wrap her up in his arms and when he did he was so gentle about it.

“Shhh.” He said softly, she was sobbing now.

"Mom?” Alice put a hand on her back, “Is that what you were really worried about? Not how dad will react but--You think that after you got your memories back you’ll be this totally different person and it’ll destroy your marriage?"

"Mother's fears are irrelevant. Grandmother stole a piece of who she is, we need to return it." Tyr said but the look on his face didn't match the confidence with which he spoke. "This changes nothing. We should use our leverage over Loki while we still can."

"Dude," Alice said to her brother, "Let it go. The plan has imploded."

“You mentioned an antidote?” Loki called from the ground. 

Desperate to not be proven the fool Tyr yelled, "If father opposes the memories getting returned then he is the enemy." Her son was always looking for someone to fight. A crusade to go on. An injustice to champion. She completely understood him and felt like shit for winding him up needlessly.

"Who said I did not want Darcy's memories returned to her?” Thor said pointedly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and began to rock her ever so slightly. “I would have you whole and happy, no matter the consequences."

"Then Father should step aside and let Loki undo the spell on mom." Tyr insisted. 

“We cannot trust he would not do more harm than good.” Thor said solemnly. “Not yet.” 

"Oh, why not?” Loki grinned maniacally, “Bring your mewling quim closer. Allow me to dig into her mind and restore her _true_ self."

“Okay,” Alice said flatly, “He has mad crazy eyes. I say we don’t trust him with mom’s brain.” 

It was true the angry insanity in Loki’s eyes did not inspire confidence. Tyr couldn’t give it up though. “He is the only one who can undo the spell. And we still have the antidote to bargain with--”

Loki let out a barking laugh. “Oh please. You won’t kill me.” He’s eyes flashed. “We’re family.” He sent a taunting smirk her way. “And as your mommy said earlier, a family is everything to a man or a god. Right, brother?”

Loki was confident they wouldn’t kill him. And he wasn’t wrong. The poison was only ever meant to be a means of threatening him into compliance. But if he knew they were bluffing, it was all for naught.

“Give him the antidote.” She ordered softly. 

Tyr looked incensed. “So you don’t want your memories back? Is that it? You’re too afraid to face who you are?” 

“Boy.” Thor said warningly. “Mind your tongue.” 

Wiping away some of her tears and snot with the back of her hand, Darcy stepped away from Thor’s chest and shook her head. “No.” Looking at Tyr imploringly she said, “I still want them back.” 

“Then let’s get them!” Tyr cheered. “Let’s make him help you.” 

With a half smirk, Loki smirked, “Good luck with that.” 

“This isn’t going to work.” She explained. “He knows we won’t kill him.” 

Tyr’s face fell and all at once lost the momentum that had been driving him. And he looked impossibly young. “You weren’t supposed to tell him that part.” 

“He already knew.” Thor said plainly. “Son. Loki and I, we were raised together, we played together, we fought together. I could no more kill him, than I could kill you.”

Loki’s mocking laughter rang out filling the dark night all around them. 

“So we can trust dad.” Tyr said for clarifications sake. “And we can’t trust Uncle Loki. Even though he’s the only one who can help you and you were worried dad might try to stop us from restoring your memories, all that was just your insecurities and paranoia?” 

Thor looked at her. His eyes crinkled momentarily as he asked, “Do you trust me?” 

“I doubted you. And myself. But I always loved you.” 

In a lilting voice Loki teased, “That’s not a yes.”

She glared at her brother in law. “Yes I trust you Thor.” The veins on his face were protruding gruesomely and their color was very pronounced against his pale skin. Idly she wondered how long they had to still administer the antidote before accidently killing him.

Thor took one of her hands, recapturing her attention. He brought her knuckles to his lips and softly kissed her skin. “Darcy. I love you. And you may doubt me. Test me, even. In this, I will not disappoint you. For my love for you is eternal and everlasting.” He kissed her cheek whispering, “I’m not perfect, I know you think I am, but I’m not. If I were smarter, more cunning, none of this would have happened. I would have seen through the lies from the beginning.”

“There’s only three minutes left.” Alice warned her brother, nudging him with her elbow. “Give him the antidote.”

“It can still work.” He said weakly, he knew they had failed but couldn’t face surrender. “We can make him fix her.” 

“Not if I’m dead.” Loki warned. His lips were turning blue and his eyes were glossy. 

Alice put a consoling hand on Tyr’s arm. Her son sighed heavily then took something out of a pocket in his pants. Wordlessly Tyr walked over to Loki and stabbed him in the chest. The man gasped in relief. The whole family gathered around the God and stared at him as color came back to his cheeks. His lips warmed. And the protruding dark veins, un-protruded. 

And then a robot swooped out of the sky and kidnapped her.  
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Darcy’s Outfit  


Alice’s Valkyrie Outfit  


Our Animal Companions & Chariot * Just imagine black Pegasus is White  


Reminder of What Kids look like (Alice, Tyr, Zoran) *Ignore Axe, it was going to have significance but like, nah, Tyr’s weapon of choice is just an axe k?  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if you guys are on board with Thor/Tony/Steve/Darcy. Or all the kids and everything. I'm trying to give them distinct personalities, but also serve Thor's character because once we see Tony/Steve, I feel any chance of getting peeps on board with Thor the 'NOT SMARTEST BUT BIGGEST HEARTEST' guy, is gonna be hard.  
> However, if you want to leave some feedback I would love to hear it.
> 
> ALSO I have no idea if Bucky and Wanda are in Hydra's clutches. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, opinions?  
> You want Bucky and Wanda to have been rescued in 3 year absence or nah? If nah, story gonna get like 10 chapter longer after we deal with Loki/Chitauri biz.


	10. Chapter 10 – Thanks For The Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy reunites.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Detective Darcy has a mean streak y'all.

Chapter 10 – Thanks For The Memories

The breath stolen from her body was all that prevented her from screaming as she was carried high up into the air. The initial impact from the swoop and grab had been surprisingly gentle. However, despite the care taken to leave her unharmed she was freaking out. A robot showed up out of nowhere and kidnapped her; instinct had her fighting back as best she could. 

Her arms thrashed and her legs kicked out but the metal body holding her was unyielding. And they kept rising in the air until looking down she could barely make out the tiny bodies of her family in the dark. 

“Darcy.” A modulated voice sounded from the robot. “It’s me. Darcy, honey calm down.”

“FUCK OFF ROBO-BASTARD!” She screeched once she finally found her voice. She slapped at the helmet and tried to wrench the head back as far as she could. 

“Darcy, it’s me Ton-” The robots voice was cut off as Mjolnir flew at its head striking hard. Jarred by the impact the robot lost its grip on her and she slipped free of its arms. She let out a blood curling scream of terror, they were very high up.

With a robotic grunt the unknown figure caught her hand keeping her aloft. “Tony!” The robot yelled, “It’s me Tony!” 

The faceplate of the robot flipped up revealing the human and very famous mug of one Tony mother fucking Stark. 

“Shit.” She cursed as just behind his head she spied Mjolnir flying back at them. The hammer struck robo-Stark in the back the metallic grip he had on her hand grew painful. 

“OW!” She screamed as her bones protested the metal squeezing them tightly. “Let go you weirdo!” Mjolnir remained on Stark’s back driving him down to the ground, he swerved and the hammer fell.

“Darcy!” The man gasped, “What the hell?” 

“Let go!” She demanded. “You’re crushing my hand.” 

“Oh crap. Sorry.” Stark apologized, but as he went to readjust his grip Mjolnir came flying at them again, this time it was aimed at Stark’s arm. The force of the blow severed the connection between them and she fell. 

She should have screamed but she wasn’t really worried, she was sure someone would catch her. What she worried about was how much it would hurt when they did. She couldn’t imagine a rescue this spontaneous would be painless. 

“Mom!” Alice’s voice cut through the air. She saw her daughter flying towards her on Cheshire’s back. With precise timing and speed she positioned the chariot right underneath Darcy, catching her…painfully.

“Ow.” She was certain by the end of the night she would have a large black and blue bruise across her ass. 

“You’re welcome.” Her daughter called out in a lilting voice as she brought them back down safely. 

“Thanks.” She said flatly.  
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When she and her daughter reached the ground they found Tyr holding Stark’s helmet and the man in question flat on his back with Mjolnir on his chest. Thor loomed over the small metal covered man with a dark expression. Stark reminded her of a turtle in that moment.

“Mama!” Zoran cried out worriedly as he zoomed to the chariot opening the latch and running in and up her body to snuggle into her arms all within the blink of an eye. His tiny hands locked behind her neck as he squeezed her tightly. “Are you okay?! That was amazin’!” 

“Darcy?” Thor called out to check on her, but he did not turn away from the man he held captive on the ground.

“I’m fine.” She soothed. Hugging Zoran back she realized she had little time to comfort her child. Loki was on the fringes of the group. Unguarded and half hidden in the shadows, they could not let him escape. Looking at her daughter she nodded her head at the errant God. 

“Go put him in the magic shackles.” She ordered. With a nod her daughter did as she asked. Watching, she was surprised how compliant Loki was. He even held out his wrists without being asked as Alice made her approach. His suspicious behavior sparked something in her mind. 

Silently she went over in her head everything she knew of the God of Mischief, all the stories she’d been told, all the records she had read. What she knew of him as a person did not gel with how he was acting. Besides being a _troll_ at every given opportunity, which apparently was a staple of his personality even madness couldn’t erase. 

Her attention shifted over to her husband and the armored billionaire as the former spoke. “You will not touch her again!” 

“Then don’t take my stuff.” The mustachioed man replied. His eyes cut away from the imposing figure her husband made and fixated on her. There was emotion in his eyes she had no explanation for. He looked like a man in the desert who had found an oasis. “Darcy, baby. Can you call off Hammer Time and tell these guys I just got overexcited to see you?” 

Slowly she set Zoran down and took his hand in hers. They walked towards the men and with every footstep she took, the urge to run away and hide grew greater. This kind of confrontation was exactly what she had wanted to avoid by forcing Loki to return her memories before she reunited with anyone she’d forgotten. Despite all her fears about what would happen after they were returned, facing people from her past as an amnesiac scared her even worse.

“My mother is not an object.” Tyr said threateningly. “Do not refer to her as ‘stuff’.” 

“Mother?” Stark’s eyes never strayed from her face. “You adopted?”

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with dude.” Alice quipped as she drug Loki over to join them. Tony stared at her daughter for a long moment, she could practically see the man doing math in his head. “Ar—are you--?” His eyes shifted back to her. “Is she? She can’t be---the triplets are only three years old! What the hell happened?!”

Darcy instantly realized Stark recognized Alice as Maria-Sarah’s twin sister. And his confusion was completely understandable. Still, she didn’t know what to say beyond, “This is my daughter Alice.” She gestured to Tyr, “My son Tyr.” She lifted and waved her and Zoran’s joined hands. “And this is Zoran, my youngest.”

Stark’s eyes roamed from child to child before they settled on Thor. He studied her husband’s face before going back to stare at Tyr. Her oldest son was all but a miniature version of his father. She watched as Stark swallowed thickly. They said he was a genius… 

“You hooked up with Shakespeare in park?” Stark asked with accusation coloring his tone and pain in his eyes. She opened her mouth to respond, but didn’t know how to condense 15 years worth of life and schemes and magic and love, down into something that could be easily related in a few sentences. Especially when she didn’t know the man she was speaking with beyond his reputation. She couldn’t anticipate how he would react. With anger? With sorrow? It made her wary of saying the wrong thing. 

“You knew her, before.” Loki said, deducing the truth just from the awkward tension in the air. He looked down his nose at the billionaire. “Oh, brother if he is your only rival for the cow’s affection, you have nothing to worry about.” 

“Shut up.” Alice hissed as she squeezed his shoulder prompting the God to wince.

“Family drama aside, that’s my prisoner.” Stark said with an edge to his voice as he pointed at Loki. 

“This is beyond you, metal man.” Thor warned. “Loki will face Asgardian justice!”

Stark’s face hardened as he met Thor’s gaze. “He gives up the Cube, he’s all yours.” His eyes shifted over to her. It was telling that he said nothing more about her, from what he’d said and what she knew of him, she realized her dreams were correct. Somehow, in the year she’d forgotten she’d gotten romantically entangled with Tony Stark. And it would seem he didn’t want her back now that he knew she’d had a family with another man. Or maybe he just had more pressing matters on his mind?

“The Tesseract? That’s what you’re really after?” Tyr asked for clarification, the question set the wheel in her mind turning. The Tony Stark she knew was a CEO weapons designer genius inventor playboy. Not a…robo-suit wearing vigilante. 

“Do you work for the government now or something?” She asked, curious. “You called him your prisoner and—I mean, you haven’t developed a high tech super-villain prison in the last 3 years have you?” He stared at her blankly. She tried rephrasing her question. “Stark. Who do you work for?” 

He looked at her with such confusion and hurt, she regretted speaking up. “That‘s what you want to know about me?” There was a bite to his words that had her tensing up. “‘Do you work for the government?’ Not, hey how are you alive I thought you were dead that’s the only reason why I moved on so quickly with my alien lover? You—you’re not even going to ask about Anthony or Maria? Or Steve?”

He was angry with her and she felt nothing beyond uncomfortable. She did not know Tony Stark beyond his reputation and public image. And yet, she so clearly did. It was weird and his ire felt unearned, but she knew from his perspective this must all seem heartless on her part. After all through Heimdall she knew he was the one caring for her son in her absence, but even still…she didn’t know what to say to calm him down and feared angering him further. 

“SAY SOMETHING!” Stark exploded, looking at her imploringly. 

This is what she did not want. What she had hoped to avoid! She sent a glare at Loki. Irrationally she blamed him. She should have gotten her memory back already, his stubborn asshole-ry was messing with all her expectations and plans for the big return to Earth. 

Demandingly Stark yelled her name. “Darcy!” 

“I don’t want to live out a badly written episode of Days of Our Lives.” Stark didn’t know the context and the Asgardians didn’t know the show. No one got the reference. 

“What?” Stark looked to Thor for explanation but found him just as confused. 

She looked over at Loki again. She knew he wouldn’t help her out of the goodness of his heart, that’s why Tyr’s insane plan sounded reasonable to her at the time. Now, she had no idea how to proceed. She just knew that Loki leaving the mountain without restoring her memories was not an option. And Stark’s fury and heartbreak just reinforced that in her mind. 

“It’s hard to explain.” She said distractedly, eyes still on the trickster. Loki stared back at her with a smirk playing on his lips. It was as if he was challenging her to try and fight him. Or outsmart him…

All at once inspiration struck. She had an idea. And more importantly, hope. 

“Get Loki on his back and pin him down with the hammer.” She ordered. Alice was quick to sweep her adopted uncle’s legs out from underneath him. The man hit the dirt with a grunt.

“Is this really necessary?” Loki sneered as he was kicked to lay flat on his back. “We all know you are too weak to follow through with whatever idle threat you are about to make.” 

Thor hadn’t removed Mjolnir from Stark’s chest. Letting go of Zoran’ hand she moved to her husband’s side and guided his hand to the handle of the hammer. “Please?” 

“Another secret plan?” He asked letting her maneuver him into picking up the magical object. 

“Not secret.” She promised. “Just spur of the moment inspiration.” 

“Well, that doesn’t sound like it’s destined for failure.” Tyr muttered under his breath. She spared her son a quick glare. He rolled his eyes at her and threw Starks helmet back at him, then folded his arms grumpily. Her son hated being left out of the loop.

She watched as Stark used his jet pack like feet and hand circles to get off the ground as gracefully as one could while wearing heavy body armor. Even having no knowledge of the mechanics involved in building the armor he was wearing, she was impressed. It was cool and without the helmet on less terrifying. She could only assume the tech genius had designed it himself. She couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted its creation. He had something about being thought dead--

“Darcy?” Thor said cutting into her thoughts. He was moving to where Loki lay in the dirt with Alice’s foot on his neck holding him in place. “Are you sure about this?” 

“Yes.” She said quickly not wanting Thor’s hesitation to be the opportunity Loki needed to somehow break free of their clutches…not that he seemed to be trying. Which in and of itself was suspicious. However his seeming desire to remain captive served her goals and therefore she chose not to examine his motives too closely. Because…they had him now. This was the time. This was _her_ opportunity and she would not let it pass her by just because they failed on the first go round. 

“Darcy.” Stark said her name and she flinched. To her ears it sounded heavy with emotion, pain, and desperation. In a detached way she felt sympathy for the man, but her heart did not ache for him because she did not know him. 

Nevertheless his pain was a reminder of what had been stolen from her. Before, she’d been so in her feelings of fear about what would change once her memory was restored she’d had no room to feel anything else. But she was feeling it now. Seeing Stark, hearing him reference her son and daughter, Steve, people she should know but didn’t. It made her feel like a stranger within in her own life. 

Her fears of change and the aftermath were now like distant memory. Fury bloomed in her heart. And rage guided her actions. 

She stared at Loki as Thor and Alice retreated from his body, Mjolnir sitting on the God’s chest was all they needed to be assured of his confinement. “Take off the handcuffs.” She instructed. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Frigga’s schemes. Odin’s lies of omission. Her years of heartache and ignorance. All the slights she’d come to suffer on Asgard at the hands of the King and Queen served to cement in her mind how far she was willing to go to take back the piece of herself that had been stolen. 

“Darcy, please!” Stark moved in front of her blocking her view of Loki. “Look at me.” 

He looked determined and his voice was strict. “Whatever you’ve got going on with Point Break it doesn’t matter to me—but, why aren’t you happy to see me? We were in love and even if you don’t feel that way about me anymore. I thought you’d at least be happy I’m alive.” His voice lost its passion. Deflated he remarked, “You haven’t even said my name.” 

Her heart thudded in her chest. She was being unintentionally cruel, Stark didn’t deserve her silence. He needed something. An explanation? An apology? A solution? She didn’t know what would soothe him. So, she offered him the truth. 

“Fifteen years ago the Queen of Asgard tricked me into allowing her to erase one year’s worth of my memories. The memories stolen from me…” Her voice trailed off as she took in the expression on Stark’s face. He looked heartbroken and had tears welling up in his eyes threatening to fall. “The memories stolen from me were significant.” 

She turned not able to look Stark in the face as she shattered his dreams of a happy reunion by relaying the reality of their current situation. She moved over to the chariot, moving robotically. “I have no recollection of meeting you Mr. Stark. Or giving birth to my three eldest children,” She gestured over to her daughter. “Alice included.” 

She reached into the chariot to retrieve the small bag of supplies they’d brought with them. Suppressing her emotions the best she could her voice sounded eerily calm and detached to her own ears. “As far as I know you are Tony Stark, famous genius billionaire celebrity mogul extraordinaire. But to me you are a stranger.” She nodded over at Loki’s prone form. “He is the only one who can give me back my memories because his mother used a spell of his own creation to take them.”

Finding what she was looking for she extracted the small medical bag from their things and moved over to the enemy in question. Thor and Alice moved back, making room for her to kneel by the God’s side. Wanting to move on from the conversation as quickly as possible given how uncomfortable it was, she said nothing else and hoped Stark would be too overloaded with information to ask any questions. 

She opened the small medical bag and found what she needed quickly. She pulled the tonic from its pocket then pulled out a syringe. Stabbing the bottle she extracted its content filing the syringe with the thick amber liquid. As he observed her actions Loki commented, “Have you not heard that repeating oneself and expecting a different outcome is a sign of insanity?” 

She looked at him to take in his expression, he looked unworried but as if he was bracing himself for pain.

“I’m not letting you go until I get what I want.” She informed him plainly. Without preamble she stabbed him in the neck with the syringe; a little surprised that he allowed her to do so without fuss, given the immovable hammer on his chest did not restrict the movement of his arms or legs. He was definitely acting super weird she noted mentally. 

He winced at the initial pinch of the needle, but looked surprised when she pressed the plunger down and pain was not immediately forthcoming. She silently set about putting the medical equipment away in the bag.

She got no joy from seeing him in pain and it amused her to defy his expectations. She flashed Loki a grin when he looked to her for explanation. 

“My love?” Thor said questioningly. “What is your plan?”

“Wait a couple minutes for it to take effect.” She answered evasively. Standing she moved over to where Zoran was cuddling with Chip. She forced a smile. “Hi buddy. How you doing?”

“I’m bored.” Her son answered with a whine that made her chuckle. “And kinda hungry.” 

As a mother, part of her wished she could always keep her children within her sight, but her youngest son was only five years old and had no sense of bloodlust. Protecting him and his innocence was her duty. Affecting a chipper tone she asked, “How would you like to go on a run and explore a little?” 

“Really?!” He brightened. 

“Really.” She confirmed, pulling him into her arms she could kiss his head and squeeze him tight.

“Darcy?” Thor said sounding nervous. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

She ignored Thor, he would understand her motivations soon enough. Keeping her attention on Zoran she made sure to use a light hearted and encouraging tone. “Earth is my home baby, and it makes me so happy that we’re here and I can finally share it with you.” 

She turned to her older son and held out her hand. “I need your watch.” 

Without question Tyr handed over the timepiece. Odin had gifted it to him when he turned 10 years old, he always had it on him. “Grandpa’s watch?” Zoran said with raised eyebrows, “But I don’t know how to tells time.” 

Silently cursing herself for not teaching him the important life skill, she pointed out the small minute hand to him. “When this,” she let her finger drag from the 2 to the 5, “-is here. I want you to come back to this spot. That will mean fifteen minutes have past.” 

“Mom.” Alice said, her voice had the same worried tone her father held. “You can’t be serious. He’s a baby!”

“Am not!” 

She ignored her daughter’s voice of dissent and smiled brightly at her youngest. “You are the God of Speed and I know how you long to stretch your legs. And normally I don’t let you because I’m your mom and it’s my job to worry about you, but baby you’re a big boy now. And I trust you. So. I want you to explore this world by running around as fast as you can.” 

“As fast as I can?!” Zoran cheered.

“Yes.” She confirmed, “As fast as you can.” 

Zoran wilted and looked unsure. “I don’t think I can—I’m really hungry mama.” 

“Go find food and eat it.” Tyr said like the solution was obvious. 

“But that’s stealing.” Zoran said looking to her for confirmation. Tyr made a face that said ‘was it though’. 

“It’s fine.” She assured him. “We’re here to save the world or whatever. You can swipe a few Big Macs and not have a moral meltdown about it.”

“Okay!” Zoran jumped to his feet. He stared at them for a couple seconds and upon receiving no more instructions or complaints, waved. “Bye!” 

Leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in his wake, her son was gone.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Thor warned as he extended a hand to help her get back to her feet. Her eyes went back to his brother. 

“Me too.”  
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The longer she stared at the prone man, the guiltier she felt about everything she was going to do to him. She looked around at her family and Stark. Everyone looked confused, but Stark still looked shell shocked and shattered. Her eyes moved over to Alice. Her baby would have the weirdest relationship with her twin sister because of Odin’s interference. Looking at Tyr she wondered if her actions that day would forever put a strain on his relationship with Thor. 

Her husband moved to her side and put a hand on her lower back, interrupting her internal brooding. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m angry.” She answered as she moved away from his touch and towards his brother. She looked down at the God. 

“I’m not angry with you though.” She informed him gently. 

“What did you give me?” Loki demanded. “I cannot feel my legs.” 

She nodded, that was good. “Loki. I don’t have to do this.” Bending down she briefly touched his shoulder. “You could just help me of your own free will. You could make that choice.” 

With a snarl he shoved her hand away. “Do not touch me you unworthy sword sheath!”

Darcy jerked back as Loki basically called her a vagina. With a kick to his brother’s side, Thor boomed. “Take care of how you speak brother, Darcy is my wife and the future Queen of Asgard.”

“Ugh.” She made a noise anytime she was reminded of her official ‘royal title’. 

“She is sloppy hole for you to hang your heavy manhood and a nice pair of tits on which to rest your head.” Whilst being highly insulted, she was able to recognize Loki’s game. His words weren’t said out of anger and sincerity they were calculated to push her families buttons and incite rash action that was sure to derail her plans.

As one the group converged around the desperate God, but she held them off shouting. “Stop!” Looking each of them in the eyes she ordered. “Back up and don’t listen to him, he’s trying to get you to take the bait. Don’t.”

“You have plans for him.” Tony said. “Care to share?” They all looked at her expectantly, even Loki. She suppressed a snort and but couldn’t help but laugh a little. She was the least powerful of all of them. The weakest. The most useless. And yet, she said stop and they listened. 

Sometimes she worried that her authority over others wasn’t a testament to her powers of persuasion, but her skill at emotional manipulation. Wouldn’t it be dramatic irony if she turned out to be just like Frigga in the end? She couldn’t help but laugh, because the alternative was crying. 

Ignoring everyone but Loki, she said, “You hate your parents? Me too. You got an axe to grind? Me too. We don’t have to be enemies Loki. You don’t have to save face and say the foulest shit you can think of to piss everyone off. I get it. You’re mad.” Loki looked taken aback by her response. 

“At times, I too feel like I am delirious with rage. I just think I’m better at hiding it than you.” She reveled quietly, her eyes looking into the distance, not really focusing on anything in particular. Not that she could see much in the darkness. “I want revenge. I want your parent’s to suffer. But most of all, I want back what was taken from me. And for that I need you.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, she looked back down to see Loki’s reaction. With a smirk he gleefully informed her, “I will not help you. _Cow_.” 

Ignoring his negative response, she spoke coaxingly. “We have so much in common. We don’t have to be enemies. You could choose to help me the way you did before. On the Bifrost.” Alluding to their only prior interaction made him angry for some reason.

“That is right little cow.” He said with venom. “I have already saved your miserable life once. And that of the life of the squalling spawn.” He looked at Alice, directing his hate filled words at her. “You owe me your life. Your childhood. Your fucking Pegasus. Everything you have is because I allowed your mother to cross the bridge in her hour of need.”

“We know.” She told him gently, refocusing his attention on her. Silently she acknowledged that all of his rage was rooted in pain, just like her own. She wasn’t lying to him, as far as she could tell, they were very similar. “And we’re asking—I. I am asking you to help me once again. Undo the damage that was done. Give me back my memories. Please.”

For a few seconds he looked to actually contemplate the request. 

And then Thor spoke and ruined it. “The brother I knew would not ignore a person in need. Especially when it cost him nothing to ease their suffering.” 

Darcy winced at the sound of his voice. It was clear to anyone with eyes that Loki had a lot of built up resentment where Thor was concerned. His reaction was instanteous. “NO!” He shouted. “Thor, I will not help you.”

“Brother—please?” Thor said sincerely. When he got no answer he grew agitated. 

“How can you deny her this simple request?” Clenching his hands into fists he yelled, “You would make my wife live in torment as recompense for your imagined slights?! You are a petty child!” 

“Duh.” Stark muttered darkly. Darcy eyed her son beckoning him to her side with her eyes. 

“Woman!” Loki called out. “Give me the antidote to whatever concoction you have injected me with. Your attempt to extract my assistance has failed. Again. As I told you, this is pointless.” He scoffed at them. “You might as well let the metal man take me to his people so they can try their hand at compulsion.” And then Loki turned his head away from them, as if dismissing them from his sight. “Because, I will never help you.” 

“Not of his own free will.” Tyr commented as he shouldered Stark out of the way so he could stand at her side. He was right. He was so unfortunately, right.

“Loki,” She sighed. “I’m warning you. If you don’t help me now, you’ll regret it. I’m a desperate woman. There’s no telling what I’ll do to get what I want.”

Loki remained stubbornly turned away, not acknowledging he’d heard a word she said. She made a show of wobbling on her feet, earning a look of concern from her children and husband. 

“Thor?” She put a hand on his arm. “I--I’m feeling faint. Can you get the water jug from the chariot?” 

With a nod, he pressed a kiss to her temple and she closed her eyes savoring the moment. She knew in her heart this was the only way forward. She just wasn’t sure Thor would forgive her, for a long time. 

Pushing aside those worries, she pictured Odin’s face, and it hurt her heart. Then she pictured Frigga’s and anger swelled in her belly. She remembered what her dead baby looked like, small and unmoving. She imagined what Maria-Sarah and Anthony looked like, because she had no idea. Because her life with her Earthly children had been stolen from her. 

Stark’s heartbroken expression flashed in her mind reminding her that wanting her memories back wasn’t all about her and how she felt. How she had been wronged. Her not knowing who she was would have a ripple effect on those she knew and could not remember. The children who did not know her. The men she loved and had left. The friends she didn’t even know to miss… 

She knew what she had to do, but she didn’t like it. As soon as Thor was too far away to stop her, she grabbed the axe Tyr held loosely in his hands. She eyed her daughter and saw her go pale. 

“Loki.” She said while looking at her daughter. “I’m not going to kill you.” Then she raised the axe above her head and finally looked down at the man in question. “But one way or another, you will help me.” 

She brought the blade down on his knee. He flinched but didn’t scream. Their eyes met. Clenching her teeth she realized she didn’t have enough upper body strength to make it straight through the leg in one chop. So, with Loki’s eyes on her, she raised the axe and swung again. 

To her left she heard her son, blocking Stark’s attempts to stop her. She swung again. 

She could hear Thor’s panicked footsteps as he approached her from behind. Alice stepping into his path, “Father, don’t!” 

The blade finally made it through all the sinew and bone. She’d done it. She’d cut off his leg. It was such a weird victory, but she felt accomplished all the same. With mouth agape and eyes wide with horror, Loki stared. 

He just stared.

Panting from the adrenaline, she lifted the axe and threw it carelessly on the ground behind her. Loki’s leg remained in place, but blood was pooling underneath. She bent down and picked up the leg, inspecting her handiwork. Her stomach churned as she saw the gory mess she’d made of the task. All her attempts to chop through had left the stump jagged and a testament to her lack of skill with weaponry. 

Her eyes met Loki’s and she meanly thought ‘I have your attention now, don’t I fucker?’. She tried not to worry about what these thoughts said about her moral character. She felt shame, but it was distant. “You _will_ help me.” She told him sternly. “Or else--” 

“Hey!” A voice called out from on top of the mountain ledge above them. “That’s enough!” 

Looking up she watched as Captain mother fucking America unclipped a parachute from his person, it fluttered to the ground dramatically as he did a fancy flip jump thing and came to land on the same ledge as them. 

He must not have been able to see them clearly in the dim lighting, because he approached sounding like a scolding teacher catching student’s out without a hall pass. Not a man interrupting a scene out of “Saw”. “Now, I don’t know what you plan on doing here…” His words trailed off as he took in the bloody scene. “Darcy?” 

Panicked, she used Loki’s sawed off leg to wave hello, “Hi.” And then she threw the leg off the mountain. 

“Hey!” Loki called out at the same time Alice said her name in disbelief. “Mom!” 

“Darcy!” Thor cried out, surprising her by angrily grabbing her shoulders and shaking her he demanded, “What have you done!? Have you gone insane?!”

“Father!” Tyr moved quickly, separating them. “Stop.” She stumbled back a few steps and her back hit the smooth metal of Stark’s suit. Turning her head she met Stark’s eyes, and thought up close he was very handsome. And that thought was so ridiculous given the situation that she could feel her cheeks heat up with a blush. 

He smiled at her and winked! “Ballsy move Liquor Lips.” 

She was amused by his reaction but also deeply unsettled. Who complimented someone for cutting off someone’s leg? 

“Sorry.” She mumbled, moving away from him. He grabbed her hand and it felt so odd, given his were still encased in metal. 

“I see what you’re doing here.” He tilted his head, “I think it’s a smart play. Crazy, but smart.” 

She confessed in a hushed tone. “Dude, I’m not even sure what I’m doing.” Over her shoulder she could hear Thor ranting about her maiming his brother and Alice trying to calm him down. 

Stark gave her a nod. “Just remember, strong women scare weak men.” He smiled toothily. “And I ain’t scared. I’m impressed.” 

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!” Loki screamed, finally seemingly getting over the shock of her attack. He reached for her, clawing at the ground to try him pull her closer but the hammer still held him in place. “YOU BARBAROUS PUTTOCK, I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS!” 

“No you won’t.” She said hatefully. “And I warned you butthole!”

“You’ve maimed my brother for life!” Thor yelled gesturing to Loki. “How could you be so brutal?” 

“Oh please,” She waved off his concern, “He’s a God. After he restores my memories, we’ll sew his leg back on. He’ll be fine.”

“You threw it off the mountain!” Loki pointed out as he picked up a handful of dirt and threw it at her spitefully. Turning she managed to avoid getting it in her face. 

“What did you inject him with?” Tyr asked looking curious.

She smiled proudly. “As I understand it? An epidural.” 

“Clever.” He said with a nod. It was meant for her and she’d only brought the one bottle. She was not looking forward to giving birth to a demi-god the old fashioned way. But her son’s question reminded her that she wasn’t done with Loki. 

Quickly she grabbed the medical bag off the floor and dug inside. “Um, Loki,” She said pulling out a small spray bottle. “If you promise not to throw any more dirt at me I’ll seal off your wound so you don’t bleed out.” She held up the bottle for him to see. “It’s just a coagulant from Lady Eir’s personal stash.”

“Fuck. You.” 

“I’m gonna do it anyway.” She informed him as she leaned down and sprayed the stump with the miraculous clotting agent. She then pulled some of the stretchy and sticky gauze out and began covering the open wound. 

Loki threw a small pebble at her face, hitting her just above the eye. And then he threw a handful of dirt. She didn’t begrudge him his petty assault; she had just cut off his leg and so said nothing. She continued to work making sure she sealed up his stump the right way so they could easily reattach his leg later. 

“Don’t.” Thor said in a scary voice. Looking up she found him stepping on Loki’s hand, he was inches away from reaching a rather large rock, she could only imagine how much getting hit in the face with it would have hurt. She smiled gratefully at Thor, but he stared back unmoved. She busied herself with putting away the medical supplies so she didn’t have to look at anyone. The weight of Thor’s disappointment in her actions was heavy on her shoulders. 

Turning to Alice she grimaced. Somehow sensing what she was about to ask her daughter hung her head and sighed. “You want me to go get the leg, don’t you?” 

“Would you?” She asked.

“Why’d you pitch it over the ledge in the first place?!” Alice asked flapping her arms. 

She could only shrug. “I did a bad thing and Captain America showed up out of nowhere. I panicked.”

“Ya think?” Her daughter questioned sardonically. 

Darcy gestured over to Captain America; the man was standing frozen, staring at them like he’d never seen such madness. Perhaps roused back to life by mentioning his name, the man exclaimed. “What the hell is going on here!? Tony? Darcy? Thor? Someone start talking!”

Stark wiped a hand over his face and tiredly told him, “Steve you’d better tell Nat to set the Quinnjet down nearby. I think we’re going to be here for a while.” 

“What’s a Quinnjet.” Tyr asked but Alice caught her attention.

“Steve?” She said perking up at the sound of her father’s name. “Steve Rogers?” 

“Yeah. That’s me.” He looked her daughter over from head to toe, squinting. “Who are you? You look like—who are you?” 

The addition of Steve Rogers, Alice’s father and the father of her other Earthly children made her heart clench. She did not want to reunite with these important people from her old life before she knew who she was. It was stupid and heartbreaking and hard and fucking amnesia soap opera bullshit. 

Before she could properly freak out, Zoran returned. 

Skidding along the ledge to a halt he kicked up a plume of dirt and dust that left her and the others coughing. When it cleared she saw her son looking adorable, wearing a plastic lei, holding a pink cotton candy in one hand and a RedBull in the other. There was mustard all over his shirt and chocolate around his mouth. With a full mouth of something blue, he asked, “Whatta miss?” 

But as his eyes took in the scene, his jaw dropped letting the half chewed bubble gum fall out onto the ground. “Is that—leg?” He dropped the items from his hands and grabbed for his stomach. “Oh. Blech--”

Zoran vomited up at least three hot dogs.  
.  
.  
.  
She sent the children off with Chip to help Alice search the mountain-y landscape below for Loki’s leg. Zoran, adverse to the sight of blood, was held securely in his sister’s arms hiding his face in her hair. Had Zoran been older and not so squeamish he could have zipped around and recovered the leg in less than a minute. As it was, he was more of a hindrance. 

However, it might also be a blessing in disguise. With the darkness, and rocky terrain, it would probably take her children a while before finding the leg. 

Steve opened his mouth to speak once the children were out of earshot but she held up a hand halting his words. “No. Don’t talk to me.” 

“What do you mean don’t talk to me.” He said shrilly. “What the hell is going on here?” 

She turned to Stark and grabbed his arm pulling him and half pushing him at the American icon. “You explain, I’ve got work to do.” 

“What do you mean work to do!” Steve parroted, looking put out at being sidelined. “Did you cut off that man’s leg?!” She felt a twinge of remorse, but honestly seeing his heartbreaking expression when he found out she didn’t know who he was or that she had moved on and married someone else and had children with someone else, possibly alienating him forever and then worrying about how she would feel about that once her memories got returned…that wouldn’t be helpful. 

She would get sucked into some deep touching bullshit conversation and she frankly didn’t have the time. 

She wanted Loki to give her back what his family had stolen from her. He wasn’t responsible and maybe it wasn’t fair for her to blame him and maim him, but she knew no other means of persuasion would work on him. He needed to know she meant business. That her threats carried weight. That his refusal had consequences. 

She blocked out the sound of Stark’s voice as he filled in Steve Rogers on the relevant plot points of the past hour. Making a beeline for the God of Mischief, she made a point to stand up straighter with her head held high. She had to act as if she had done nothing wrong and would have no problem doing it again, or worse. Loki had to believe in the threat she posed if she had any shot of getting her memories back. If she failed now while he was wounded and vulnerable, she feared she would never get another chance. It would probably become a point of pride for the God to withhold from her the one thing she wanted dearly that only he had the power to give. 

Thor stepped into her path, blocking her from reaching his brother. The look on his face shook her confidence. “You betrayed me.” He accused. “You said you would not harm him.” 

That was a false. 

“I said I wouldn’t kill him.” She corrected. “And I haven’t. His life is in _no way_ at risk right now. And he knows it. And you know it. I made sure this was something he could not only survive, but recover from.” 

“My love, the way you twist words is like a knife in my heart.” He unfolded his arms. “You know better.” 

She did know better. She knew it was cruel to hack off someone’s limb, she wasn’t a sociopath. She knew it was wrong to use violence as a weapon of compulsion. She knew it would be hard for Thor to ever look at her the same way again. And she felt guilty for none of it. Or if she did, she felt justified. This was an extremely complicated situation filled with fucking magical bullshit. She was just trying to keep up. 

“I cannot compete with you physically. I have my wits and words and the element of surprise and that’s about it.” After a beat she added, “Plus people skills. I’m pretty good at reading people and making them do what I want.”

“Ha!” Loki barked, as if to emphasize her current failure in opposition of that claim.

Ignoring his outburst, she continued. “The point is, I am not Asgardian, I am mortal. My life is hilariously short compared to yours. And your parents conspired to steal from me the most precious resource of all. Time. Time with my loved ones, time I will never get back.” 

Thor looked a little chastised at that, but then he rallied. He gestured to his now pathetic looking brother. “Loki had no hand in your manipulation. In fact, even at the height of his madness, he showed you compassion. How can you repay that with bloodshed?” 

“His compassion trapped me in a life I never wanted.” She said without thinking. Thor looked at her as if she had struck him and she felt ashamed, but she would not let his wounded expression temper the bite of her words. She needed Thor to understand why she did what she did if she had any chance of keeping him. And she did want to keep him. “Cutting off his leg? Not a move many would see coming. It took him by surprise just as I thought it would. It’s neutralized him in a way normal means just can’t given how wily and powerful he is.” 

She felt the threat of tears and looked up at the sky blinking rapidly willing them away. “Just because I fell in love with you and made the best of a bad situation does not negate the harm that was caused, knowingly and willfully by your family.” 

“I am not his family.” Loki said darkly. Glowering at the pair of them he snarled, “I. Am. Innocent.”

“Are you kidding me?” She leaned around Thor so she could look at him properly. “You’re literally a murderer. And also, let’s not forget that time you tried to commit genocide on Jotunheim.”

“Also here!” Stark called out, proving he and Rogers were not unaware of the conversation happening 10 feet away from them. 

Rogers offered more support to her argument adding, “Thor. I’m not sure I agree with what’s happening here, or even really understand it but, Loki’s killed 80 people in 2 days. He is no innocent.”

“He’s adopted.” Thor said as his shoulders slumped.

That made her snort. When he looked at her with daggers in her eyes, affronted she would mock his pain, she gave him a self deprecating smile. “Odin and Frigga’s parenting fingerprints are all over Loki, head to toe. I’m not sure claiming he’s adopted absolves you of anything. In fact one could argue it puts you more at fault for his behavior than his biological parents who had no influence on the person he’s become.”

Thor looked torn apart and she totally understood where he was coming from, but he needed to see reason. She was playing chess with Loki and holding her own, while Thor was still stuck on checkers.  
Her heart ached for him because she loved him and she wished they weren’t in this situation, but they were. 

Reaching out she put a hand on his arm. When he didn’t immediately shirk her touch, she stepped closer. 

“I love you.” She said softly. “And if I could have gone about this in any other way, I would have. I did! Or at least I tried to. Honestly honey, in this one act of violence, I’ve killed three birds with one chopped off leg.” She craned her neck to look up into Thor’s eyes and asked a question she knew he didn’t have the answer to. “What plan did you have to stop him from waging war on Earth? Hit him with your hammer? And then what? What about making him making him do the right thing and help me? This is not a problem one can solve easily. I’m just doing my best.”

“I don’t—I didn’t have a plan.” He admitted. “I thought I could talk sense into him. Make him see—he didn’t need to do this, that he could come home.” 

“I know.” Darcy said as she put her arms around his waist and gave him a gentle squeeze. “And we all knew that wouldn’t work, which is why we tried poisoning him and holding the antidote over his head to force his compliance.” 

“You did what?” Rogers sounded off. 

“News to me.” Stark commented to his friend. 

Thor held her tighter. “I don’t know what to do.” 

She was very frustrated with Thor at the moment. She wanted to tell him to get the fuck out of her way and let her do what he didn’t have the stomach for, but instead she said, “Trust me.” 

Thor pulled away from her embrace and put a hand on her cheek. “I will always trust you.” 

A fistful of dirt aimed at their faces ruined the tender moment. Loki let his head fall back to the ground and looked up at the stars as he muttered, “I hate you both.”  
.  
.  
.  
She sat down next to Loki, a little wary that she was in stabbing range, but felt exercising caution would be perceived as weakness. She had to show no fear and make Loki believe every word she said for this ploy to be successful. She eyed the axe on the floor a little ways off. For all the shit she gave Thor, when it came down to it, her plan to get what she wanted was basically the same as his. After cutting off his leg, she would talk Loki into helping her. With leverage to help him make up his mind, she was hopeful it would work. 

Leaning over she dragged the axe along the ground until it was close enough for her to pick up and set down in her lap. The thing was heavy and the edge was still coated in Loki’s blood. She knew just holding it put her in a powerful position for the conversation. 

She looked over her shoulder at Thor, Rogers, and Stark. The men were side by side right behind her, ready and willing to jump in at a moment’s notice to save her. Stark flashed her thumbs up. Looking back at the pathetic picture Loki presented, with his stump leg, blood soaked clothes, and defeated expression due to still being pinned to the ground by Mjolnir on his chest, she thought it might be more prudent at this point to admit they were equally ready to jump in and protect Loki from _her_. 

“So, you want to make this easy on yourself and just agree to help me now?” She asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone out of her voice. 

“Sure.” He said flippantly. “Let me at those memories of yours. I won’t do anything horrible while I have your mind flayed open and at my mercy.” He flashed her a shark like grin. “I promise.” 

“I made sure you didn’t feel it when I cut it off.” She reminded him. 

“But you did it. You cut off my leg.” He sounded angry, but also sad. 

“Would you preferred I took your hand?” Belatedly she worried if she was being too mean.

“I would prefer to rip out your innards with my bare hands.” He snarled furiously. 

“I stole an apple of Idunn and brought it with me.” She revealed. Loki froze, behind her she heard Thor’s gasp. The apples of Idunn were highly guarded and rationed as they were in limited supply, only members of the royal family had ever sampled them, and a few select Valkyries or so she had been told. The supply was controlled by Odin and she knew that despite having his favor, she courted the true wrath of the King with her theft. 

She shrugged as if it was no big deal and explained, “Your dad pissed me off. Everyone was distracted with getting us ready to come here. And I seized the moment.”

“You are a bold little cow.” Loki acknowledged. “I will give you that.”

“Odin…he dubbed my daughter a Valkyrie. He gave her a Pegasus. And training. Armor. Weapons. He gave her everything she would ever need to ride off into battle upon his behalf, to fight and maybe die. All in his name.” Loki looked at her with curiosity. She smiled at him, but it was an ugly smile that showed how angry she still was with the King. “My baby is human. And if she ever got hurt, I could give her that apple and it would heal her. I wouldn’t even need to give her the whole thing, half would do the job. Wouldn’t it?” 

Loki nodded his head once. After a beat she looked at his leg pointedly. “It occurs to me that _half_ a golden apple might could help heal a reattached leg within a few hours, given it’s not a mortal wound. Could it not?” 

A slow calculating smile spread across Loki’s face. “It could.” 

She nodded and looked up at the stars. She didn’t recognize a single constellation. The sky in Asgard and the sky on Earth looked the same to her, but it was a comfort just knowing she was well and truly home. 

“So that is your ploy to assure my compliance? Offering me my leg and the chance to heal what damage you wrought?” Loki asked.

“Basically. Yeah.” 

“And if I refuse?” He prompted. 

She let her gaze drift down to the golden axe in her lap. Idly she realized it matched her outfit. Her eyes flicked back up to Loki’s. She didn’t need to say it; he knew what the alternative was. 

“More violence?” He said. His eyes shifted to just over her shoulder. “And what would your menagerie of men think of that?” 

She could tell Loki was trying to play her, twist her until she was…all twisted up inside. About what she had done to him, about what people about what she’d done. So, she answered his question with a question. “Will you help me if I put you back together good as new?” 

“Probably not.” He said sounding sincere.

She nodded. “I know you think that, but you’re wrong.” 

“How is that little cow?” 

His choice of farm animal descriptor for her rankled, though she tried not to show it. “I know in the end you will comply with my wishes, because I know how long the epidural lasts.” Loki’s smug expression faltered. “In a few hours, the feeling will return to your lower extremities. The full force of what I have done will hit you like a tidal wave. Slowly the pain will rise until it crashes over you. I imagine it will be, debilitating.” 

“To say the least.” Stark muttered.

“Torture it is then?” Loki asked quirking a brow. 

“No.” She said softly. “If all goes according to plan, you will be back on Asgard long before the drug I gave you wears off. Lady Eir will give you more awesome magical pain killer and you will have your leg sown back on, a golden apple in your belly and be fully restored just in time to face daddy dearest and get thrown in the dungeon to serve out a centuries long sentence.” 

“Or perhaps an execution?” Loki scoffed. “You really think Odin will have mercy on me after all that I’ve done?” 

“He’s your dad.” She told him plainly, like it was all the explanation needed to explain away the leniency he would likely receive. “And your mom is scarily hardcore when it comes to protecting her children.” 

“I am not her child.” Loki claimed, his voice was tainted with pain. “There is no loyalty or love left between us.” 

She didn’t say anything to argue with his feelings. Instead she changed the subject. “Every month or so, I would say something clever or biting. Something intelligent or spiteful. And your father would say, ‘Childe, you would get along well with Loki. I swear you two are cut from the same cloth.’ And I would say something along the lines of feeling insulted at the comparison. And he would laugh and assure me you would feel the same.” 

Loki’s face reflected that he indeed feel the same. 

“Then Odin would look sad and I would feel bad and say something consoling. Like, ‘sorry your kid went crazy and died.’ And sometimes he would end the conversation abruptly and leave the room. Or tell me a funny story about you and Thor growing up; I’m fond of the one where you turned him into a frog.” The corner of Loki’s mouth lifted at that. 

“T’was a very good joke.” He insisted.

“But this one time, you came up and he looked so sad . And I felt bad, but this was after I’d buried by baby that died.” Her voice grew tight with emotion and she was grateful Loki didn’t look gleeful at the news of her grievous loss. “And this time I was able to say to him, ‘I know how terrible it is to lose a child.’ And I started crying and he comforted me and it was like this, totally bonding moment, ya know?” 

Loki grew unnaturally still and she wondered if it was because she was being so genuine with him, or if he really couldn’t picture Odin being kind. “After we wiped away my tears and snot, he looked thoughtful and hopeful. And he told me, ‘in death there is rebirth for those who would live again’.”

“He knew I lived?” He asked in a small voice.

“No.” She said, “Frigga did, but she waited a while before cluing in your dad.” 

Observationally Loki pointed out, “You speak of my—you speak of Queen Frigga with such distain and of Odin, with affection. Most usually feel the opposite. They wonder how a gentle soul as she came to love such a callous tyrant.”

“You’re mom erased my memories to make it easier for me to forget the past, so I could forge a future with your brother as basically his brood mare, her words not mine. Or his.” She fought the urge to look over her shoulder at Thor, worried the action would break the spell between her and Loki where finally she felt like they were having a genuine conversation. “You mother interfered further…when we did not start fucking fast enough for her personal timeline, she slipped me a magical roofie and got me horny for the town weirdo and accidently sexually assuaulted.”

Loki blinked at her. “Oh.” 

“But getting back to the rebirth thing, I get it now.” 

“What?”

This was the point at which she had to go for the jugular, verbally speaking. Loki was down now, but his reputation as a conniving trickster and his questionable mental state, had her wanting insurance when they let him go to town on her mind and memories. Not to mention the bonus points she could reap if she got him to tell her the whole story concerning this magical scepter and his sudden urge to wage war on her home planet. “You fell off the Bifrost,” She said in a measured tone. “The bridge that tethered Asgard to the other realms and to this dimensions perception of time.” 

“And?” He said sounding bored. 

“And you must have been falling for what felt like to you, days or months. Maybe even years.” Loki said nothing but clenched his jaw perceptibly. She smiled at the reaction. “Where did you land I wonder? Who found you? And how did you piss them off? You look shit, I mean. It’s obvious whatever happened to you, it wasn’t good.” 

Sensing weakness she mentally cheered as Loki averted his gaze. She pressed the advantage. “Who gave you an army? Who gave you a magic mind controlling scepter?” 

At that question he met her eyes once again, but there was fear in them. She was shaken by the reaction, but tried not to show it. For who could instill that much fear in a god? 

Suddenly she felt like a piece of shit for playing all these power/mind games with him. For all the stories his family had told her over the years, of Loki as young boy mischievous but not unkind boy, she felt like she knew him. Not just of him. And for the shock he received learning of his true parentage and Odin’s lie of omission, she felt kinship in his sense of betrayal. And had compassion for all he had suffered, self inflicted and otherwise. 

Reaching out slowly with one hand towards his face she expected him to slap her away or bite off her fingers, but he did neither. When the pad of her fingers made contact with his skin she wasn’t surprised to find it cool to the touch. He was supposedly a frost giant. 

Loki let her run the pad of her pointer finger down the side of his face, from temple to jaw. It was the barest of caresses, a meager offer of comfort at best. And yet, he looked moved. Not to mention a little shaken by his own weakness as she moved her hand back to rest in her lap. 

Her heart ached for him, it did that a lot, she thought idly. It was clear to her that whoever gave him the mind control scepter had used it on him first. It was said Loki was obsessed with ruling Asgard, literally never giving two shits about Earth before, his new found lust to rule the world didn’t make sense. Being given an army and a magic stick should have had him running at Odin to take what he thought ‘belonged’ to him. He regarded humans as a lesser species; there was no pride in picking on someone weaker than you. Especially not for a man who wanted to be the King of the Gods. 

Everything she heard about Loki’s mental breakdown/attempted coup centered on him proving to his family that he was worthy of the birthright he had been promised. He tried to wipe out his own people for god’s sake! His desperation for love and power was crystal clear. 

Truthfully, she took no pleasure in maiming or manipulating him. Still, she knew appealing to his heart would get her nowhere. _She had to believe that_ …or else the extremes she had gone to could have been avoided. And that was a thought too horrible to contemplate any further. 

Straightening her shoulders she forced her face into expressionless mask. “Tell me; were you not a god before your fall from grace?” She let a taunting tone lace into her words like barb wire. “Wouldn’t you say that Loki son of Odin ‘died’ when you fell and landed…wherever? Are you not now a new person?”

“I am God.” Loki insisted gruffly. She laughed at him; the sound of it was harsh and brittle. 

“A one legged God lying in the dirt felled by mortal woman? Don’t kid yourself Loki. You are an errand boy.” She informed him with a mocking grin that served to provoke him. “You do the bitch work of some mysterious figure that’s waiting in the wings, just counting down the minutes before you return with the Tesseract, looking for a pat on the head for a job well done.” 

“You speak gibberish, cow. Your words are as empty as your threats.” He was grasping at straws and it was pathetic. A sense of pity for the twisted snarling creature he’d become was becoming undeniable. She didn’t want to wound him any further. 

“I kicked your ass.” She forced herself to smirk. “And it kind of smells like you peed yourself.” 

He lunged at her and grabbed her around the throat, squeezing as he ranted. “I’ve seen worlds you’ve never known about! You’re right about my rebirth. I have grown in my exile!” He shook her and she clawed at his hand but his grip was far stronger than her own. “I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it--” Thinking quickly, she wacked him in the face with the flat side of the axe startling him into letting her go. 

With a gasp she backed away. Thor was on his brother in a second; kneeling on the ground he grabbed Loki by the hair to lift his head, giving him room enough to wrap his bulging bicep around the slim man’s throat. “You would raise your hand against a woman with child? My wife!? My child!?”

“You’re pregnant?” Rogers questioned as he knelt by her side. His hand hovered over her arm as if afraid to touch her. Coughing she nodded. 

“Again?” Stark added as he raised his hand circle threateningly and pointed it at the dark haired God’s face.

She couldn’t let them ruin the progress she’d made. 

“Let him go!” She ordered. None of the men obeyed. Leaned forward she slapped at Thor’s arms. “I said let him go!” She turned and swatted Stark’s hand gun to the side. “Seriously, go away!” 

“Darcy--” “My love,--” “Seriously?” 

“Fuck off.” She said pointedly. 

“No.” Thor said as he released Loki’s neck. He moved to her side and sat in the dirt next to her. He looked down at his brother and asked a very intelligent question. “Who controls the would-be-king? Who showed you this power?”

“I am a King!” He insisted. At Loki’s outburst she and Thor looked at each other. She saw understanding dawning in his eyes. She hoped he could follow her lead. 

Hoping to wind him up even more Darcy smiled meanly. “Dude. Power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you have it, you don’t.”

Loki responded colorfully. “Thou frothy common-kissing miscreant. You will pay for the insults I have suffered at your hand this day. ”

His diction made her bark a laugh. This only served to make Loki appear more frustrated and annoyed with her. Thor however, did not find his brother’s behavior as amusing as she.

Grabbing the lapels of his brother’s coat Thor shook him once. “You will not be king here! Do you understand me? You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!” Thor’s face softened and his tone grew pleading. “You come home.” 

Thor wasn’t very good at taking cues. He was a man who lead with his heart. And she loved him for it, but right now he was kind of being a pain in her ass. Because even after all that he had done and all he threatened to do, Thor loved Loki. 

For just a second Loki looked surprised by the depth of emotion his brother showed in that instant. But then he was forcing a smile and ruining the moment saying, “I don’t have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I’ve sent it off I know not where.” 

“Well that sucks.” She commented with a frown, trying to take control of the conversation once again. “Guess we’ll just settle for cutting off your penis.” 

“What?!” Loki squawked indignantly. “You shall not!”

“And your other leg. And take a spoon to gauge out your eye so you can be twins with Odin. And an ear to match Van Gogh.”

“What are you talking about woman?” Loki demanded.

“To ensure you’ll help me with my memory problem.” She channeled all her anger into her face, “You said you wouldn’t help me when I offered you the carrot, or in this case apple and trip to the best healer in universe.” She put a hand on Thor’s shoulder and used him for leverage to get to her feet. The axe held tightly in her other hand. 

She held it aloft for display, indicating to the weapon with her head. “This is the stick. The stick I will use if I have to, to hack at your body until you are no more than a head and torso. Alive, as per my promise to Thor, but most likely begging for the relief of death that I will never grant.” 

“Darcy.” Thor got to his feet and put a hand on her back and held out his hand for Mjolnir with the other. The hammer flew in the air, responding to its master obediently. They no longer needed it to incapacitate him; her axe had long taken care of that. She held her breathe in anticipation of what her husband was about to say and prayed he didn’t threaten to physically remove her to save his brother.

“If you are to take another piece of him you should hurry before the children come back. And move your feet slightly apart so the downward swing has more momentum.” 

She looked at Thor and grinned shocked, but proud. He was on board. He was lying, acting, and totally on board. He finally understood what was at stake. How far gone his brother was mentally. How not entirely at fault she thought he might be. How much she did not want to hurt him. And most importantly, how to sell a bluff.

“You approve?” She asked for clarification.

“No.” He said looking down at his brother, “But you’ve made the argument well, my love. And my brother, he is determined to leaves us no other choice. I see that now.” 

It was a pitch perfect performance. A little sad, but mostly resigned. She adjusted her grip on the handle of the axe and raised it above her head, this time aiming for his other leg. 

“We can’t let this happen. Can we?” Rogers said.

“Why not?” Stark replied in a matter of fact tone..

And then she brought the axe down—“WAIT!” She paused inches away from making contact with his remaining knee. 

“Yes?” She inquired without moving.

“I’ll help you.” 

“Excellent.” She threw the axe to the floor with gusto.  
.  
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Trusting Loki with her brain sounded super duper stupid. And it was scary, trusting him. But she wasn’t. She was trusting his sense of self interest. His desire not to be chopped up into little pieces. And his need to be restored and made whole. Still, it was a little nerve racking as they set up for the spell. 

She’d brought candles and rose petals and oils with her, all the things Frigga had used when she first cast the spell on her all those years ago. At his brothers instructions Thor set up the candles and petals into a circle. It was weird, but also really fragrant. And at that point she was just glad the spell didn’t require a blood sacrifice or anything. 

As a sign of good faith, she gave him half the apple upfront. She thought it might make the indignity of him having to be carried and arranged behind her a little more palatable. 

When she and Loki were alone in the center of the circle, her heartbeat quickened. 

Thor, Rogers, and Tony stood just outside the circle looking like they’d rather be anywhere but on the outside with no control and no way to contribute. Thor looked especially intimidating with Mjolnir in one hand and the axe in the other. 

She doubted Loki would go back on the deal though, after all, the children had yet to return with his leg. And hopping away wouldn’t get him very far. 

As Loki drew with fingertips soaked in oil on her forehead making the event even smellier, but in a good way, she felt a weird sense of déjà vu. 

Positioned precariously behind her, Loki settled his hands over her eyes. In a low monotone voice he instructed, “Close your eyes and think of the last memory before your mind was tampered with.” 

She did as she was told. 

Loki started whispering in a way that was barely audible, but as the ritual went on his voice grew in volume. She didn’t understand what he was saying and as she concentrated on the memory of leaving her crappy apartment on her way to participate in her Citizen’s Duty, his words faded from her mind and became like white noise. 

There was pain, like a migraine from hell and it felt crippling. And then she was unconscious.  
.  
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“Did it work?” 

“Why did she pass out? What did you do Rock of Ages?” 

“My love?” 

It wasn’t like she experienced a rush of memories all at once; it wasn’t even an overwhelming experience. It was like popping a zit, or digging out a stubborn piece of ear wax. Something that felt like it shouldn’t be inside her was just gone. And she finally had relief to all the fears and pain and aching sense of incompleteness that had plagued her for more than a decade. 

Having access to her mind and memories, just as promised, was a dream come true. Opening her eyes she found herself on the ground and looking up at all four men who were leaning over her prone form. Staring at her anxiously.

“You’re awake!” Steve cried out in surprise. “Thank god.” 

“Did it work?” Tony asked sounding worried. “Do you remember me?” 

. The memory of their first meeting was easy to recall. The gray walls, the drabness of the room, and their lack of clothing…She couldn’t resist cracking a joke now that she was so happy. “What a handsome smorgasbord of penis I see before me.”

The smile on Tony’s face was blinding “That’s my girl.” He said softly, instantly getting the reference.

Turning her eyes on a confused looking Steve. Her favorite memories sprung to mind and came out of her mouth like a word association game. “Sunscreen. Shower sex. And first dates on the farm.” The blush on his face was both adorable and a sight for sore eyes.

“I missed you guys.” She declared in a watery voice. Emotion swelled like a tidal wave. Tears welled up in her eyes and all the fears she had about how everything would work out post-memory restoration solidified like a stone in her gut. 

“Thor--”

“MOM! We found the leg!” Zoran sped over and poked his head into the huddle of men looking down at her. With a confused pout he asked, “What’re ya laying on the floor for?” He looked around at the guys faces with a gleeful expression. “Is it a game!?”  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the Loki fans liked the chapter, I love him and think he is one of the most...complex characters in the MCU, seriously him and TONY have had the best character arcs in all the movies. (my opinion) AND I can promise that darcy/LOKI will NOT be happening in the romantic sense.  
> I know that it was a little light on the Tony/Darcy/Steve of it all, but moving forward we will not be dealing with Amnesia Darcy any longer!!!!!!!!!  
> LET THE DRAMA RAMA BEGIN!  
> also. the alien army is still coming so they should probably handle that biz yeah?  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Also, let it be known that Alice found Loki's leg like...twice but saw the drama going down with the grown ups and 'accidentally dropped' it a few times to buy her mom more time to be a bad ass.


	11. Chapter 11 - The Calm...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy takes a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so sorry this is late. I was having trouble with this chapter because I am a weirdo who reads my own work and I was in the middle of Bed Surfing and then I was writing this and making Darcy too bad ass (physically) forgetting (ignoring) that this is my HUMAN darcy fic. So I had to rewrite the chapter and it was mother's day last week and this week was my moms b-day and I had no time. I wish I could buy time in vending machine, but I can't. It's not FDA approved.  
> So. Yeah.  
> Sorry bout that. Enjoy the chapter though.

Chapter 11 – Calm Before...

It had been a taxing day and there was still more to deal with on the horizon. Not the least of which was her complicated love life. Lying on her back in the dirt, surrounded by men who loved her…and Loki, she felt the weight of what she was about to face. Alien invasion. The blending of inter-species families. Reunion with lost loves. And the reintroduction of her lost children.

Darcy felt drained and she wondered if the magic was to blame, or was it just her life. There was so much she wanted to know about the time she’d spent apart from Tony and Steve. So much she wanted to share with them and explain. However she wasn’t sure how to start. 

Her body ached and her mind raced. 

She opened her mouth several times to ask Tony and Steve about the children she’d left behind. To tell them Thor was open to a polyamorous relationship. To discuss the upcoming alien invasion. To ask about Wanda and her baby. Bucky. Scott. What happened with Shield? How were the dogs? Was King still alive? Who got to tell Obie that Tony wasn’t dead and did someone take a picture of his face when they did? But no words made it past her lips. Instead she tugged at the high collar of her armor. She felt like she was choking on all the millions of things she had to say. And everyone staring at her with anticipation was just making it worse.

“Mom? Are you okay?” Zoran asked. Tony and Thor looked at her with understanding but Steve cast a suspicious glance Loki’s way.

“I’m…” She tried to answer but the prospect of saying ‘I’m fine’ just seemed so ludicrous. She choked on the words. Tugged at the ties that held her golden armored skirt trying to loosen them she stuttered, “I—I’m--” 

“Did you do something to her?” Steve accused, he gripped Loki’s arm tightly. The god teetered precariously on his one good numb leg. 

“Only what she asked.” He responded coolly.

Zoran looked up at Thor. “Does she need water? Maybe she needs water daddy?” 

Thor patted their son on the head. “Would you fetch it?”

Zoran saluted his father calling out “On it!” even as he zoomed over to the chariot to rummage through their things. 

“Darce?” Tony put a hand on her shoulder and helped her sit up. She grew more aggressive in her attempts to loosen her armor, she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. His mustache twitched as his eyes took in her frantic actions. He squeezed her shoulder getting her to focus on him, and how cold and impersonal his robotic hand felt. “You sure you’re okay?” 

She wanted to feel his skin against hers. To hold him. To be held by him. “I…” 

She finally freed her lower skirt and closed her eyes savoring the feeling of the weight falling from her body. She jerked off the stupid arm cuff things and kept her eyes down, focused on the task of unburdening her person.

When she reached around to the back of her neck looking for the release on the collar, gentle hands stopped her. 

“You wish to be free of your armor my love?” Thor’s voice sounded low and he didn’t wait for a response from her before he was undoing the ties and buckles that kept her encased in the golden armored top. 

Once free she gasped and put a hand on her heart. It was beating so quickly. The urge to curl up and cry swelled inside her, but she wasn’t weak. Not that weak. Blinking away the feeling she clenched her teeth and inhaled deeply. Thor who knelt by her side put a comforting hand on her back and rubbed slow circles. Her breathing was becoming labored as her mind spiraled.

Questions. She had so many questions.

Would they understand all that she had been through on Asgard? Hate her for building a new life without them? For falling in love with Thor? Falling victim to his parents? 

Had they moved on without her? With each other or someone new? 

Would they reject her attempts to reclaim the title of mother to their shared children? Would they let her be a part of their lives? Would they hate her for the time they lost with Alice? 

Did they still love her as much as she loved them? 

Did she still love them as much as she used too?

Could things ever go back to the way they were?

Did she want them too? _Were they on the cusp of the most painful conversation of her life?_

“Sweetheart?” Steve sounded worried, she didn’t answer him or look up. “Is she having a panic attack?”

“Here!” Zoran returned with their canteen of water and handed it to Thor. Her husband pressed the rim to her lips and she snatched it out of his hands. 

“I can—do it.” She said breathily, but her hand shook fiercely as she pressed the metal can to her lips and drank from it deeply.

Thor never stopped touching her back. “You must not forget you are in a delicate condition my love. This day’s events must be taking a heavy toll on your mind and body. You would do well to take a moment and just, breathe.” 

“Yeah!” Zoran piped in. “And! You didn’t even get to have a nap today. So,” He cast a judgmental glance at Steve and Tony. “No one can be mad at you for not feeling up ta talkin’ right now. You’re  
growing a whole person in your belly!” In an aside to the mortal men her son attempted to whisper discretely, “It’s extra hard for mommy because she’s human and daddy’s sperms are Asgardian.”

Tony snorted at her son’s explanation but Steve looked sort of solemn. Having her currently pregnant status acknowledged made her feel a little bit better about being such a coward. She passed the canteen off to her son and turned to her husband. She held out her arms to be picked up like she was a child.

In a small voice she claimed, “I can’t walk.” 

“Can’t?” Tony repeated in dismay, but it didn’t matter. Her husband knew she wouldn’t ask to be treated so weakly if it wasn’t necessary. He scooped her up and cuddled her close to his chest. 

As he got to his feet with her in his arms he whispered, “I am here for you my love. Always.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and took comfort from his strength. Speaking to Tony and Steve she asked the only questions that she couldn’t live without knowing the answer to. “Are Anthony Jr. and Maria-Sarah..healthy? Happy? Are they—you...” A sob got caught in her throat and she stopped speaking for fear of turning into a bawling mess. 

“Yes.” Steve answered quickly. “They’re both perfect. Healthy. Happy--”

“The kids are amazing Darcy, you should be so proud. I mean--”

“Stop.” She cut Tony off harshly. She couldn’t think about her missing children anymore. They were safe. They were whole. And soon they would all be reunited, one way or another. She let that information fill her with confidence. 

She couldn’t—she wouldn’t be able to stay focused on anything else if Tony and Steve told her any more about them. If they told her Anthony Jr. loved music or Maria-Sarah was a little Picasso, she’d want to see pictures. Videos. And then she’d want to abandon the crisis that brought them back to Earth in the first place and run off to be with them. To see for herself. To hold them. To pretend her life never became so complicated. To pretend integrating her families together would be easy.

Over the ridge Chips barking heralded the other children’s arrival.

With sad eyes she met Tony’s gaze. “Don’t hate me? I just, I can’t think about the kids--our kids. I have to stay focused, we all do. So let’s--” Her eyes flickered over to Loki. “Let’s just deal with the alien invasion and then we can talk.”

Tony’s hand twitched like he wanted to reach out and touch her but he restrained himself. “I could never hate you. I love you Darcy.” His eyes flickered up to Thor’s face and his words took on a challenging tone. “I will always love you.”

Thor was unthreatened. “She is an exquisite creature, my love. Our Darcy.” He said kindly. “You would be fool to reject her heart if it was offered.” 

Steve’s eyes got squinty and his mouth looked pinched, she bet he was confused by Thor’s words, but Tony smiled. A slow, small smile that gave her hope that perhaps happily ever after really was possible.

“Fickle and feeble minded fools, the lot of you.” Loki muttered under his breath. As the children grew closer his eyes widened and he let out an indignant squeak. 

“Boy!” Loki snapped, “Do not drag my leg along the floor!” 

“I’m not.” Tyr denied. Half amused, half ready to pass out, she let her head rest on Thor’s shoulder and believe that everything might turn out okay.  
.  
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Steve led the way through the forest to the waiting Quinnjet. The children wrangled the animals and chariot while Tony assisted Loki in his hobbling. He refused to be carried which was making their trek slower than Darcy liked. It was a cold night and there was a chill in the air that had her curling closer to Thor so she could leech more of his body heat. She remained in his arms content to be carried and allowed to rest her eyes in safety.

Steve told them they were not far from Suttgart Germany and the ride back to NYC would take approximately 6 and half hours. A familiar redhead was waiting for them when they reached their goal. 

“Found some hitchhikers.” Tony called out prompting Darcy to open her eyes once again. 

“Looks like you found a lot more than that.” Natasha said in her low seductive voice. Her eyes swept over their group quickly, but came to rest on her. She quirked a brow asking, “Injured?”

“Pregnant.” She answered flatly.

“Again?” 

Their exchange was cut off as Alice, following Steve’s directions, rode Cheshire up the ramp and onto the compact jet. As it passed Natasha the mythical horse stretched her wings, inadvertently swatting the woman in the face with her feathers. Slightly disheveled the spy asked. “Is that a Pegasus?” 

“Apparently.” Steve said as he stood opposite her at the door overseeing everyone boarding. 

“Well,” Natasha eyed Thor as he carried Darcy aboard. “Let’s just hope it shits rainbows or things will get—Wait, what happened to Loki’s leg?!” 

Tony smirked as he helped Loki up the ramp. “Darcy cut it off.” 

Natasha, usually unflappable, looked at a loss for words. Darcy was probably more proud of rendering the intimidating and beautiful woman speechless than she should have been. 

“You’re welcome.” She called out glibly.  
.  
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Loki was strapped in tight and manacled. And after a little whining he was given his severed leg to hold on to so it wouldn’t come to harm in transit. It occurred to her then that they should really put the thing on ice, but she doubted there was any available on the tiny aircraft.

With her still in his arms Thor settled into the seat next to his brother and didn’t bother to buckle up. Tony followed Natasha to the cockpit to have a whispered conversation as the woman got them ready to fly.

Darcy was grateful when Steve scooped up Zoran and settled him into the seat on her other side. He took the time to explain it was just a precaution and her youngest would only have to remain restrained until they reached cruising altitude, which she appreciated. Chip jumped into the boys lap as soon as Steve moved back from her son. It warmed her heart and broke it when Steve patted the dog fondly on the head saying, “Hey boy. I remember you.” Chip barked at him but not with recognition.

“This is Chip!” Zoran told him proudly. “He’s mama’s dog from back home. He eated magic apples and now he’ll live forevers like me and daddy and Tyr.” That wasn’t strictly true, but it was close enough.

“That’s…nice.” Steve looked grateful when Zoran stuck his thumb in his mouth and pressed his face into the dogs fur effectively ending the exchange between them. Her son was used to having a nap midday, like she was when she was pregnant with a demi-god, sleeping was the only time he really and truly slowed down and was as vulnerable as the rest of them. 

From up front Nat called out, “Everyone secure?” 

Steve glanced at Alice who still sat atop the Pegasus. Tyr who was unlatching the animal from the chariot answered the question before the soldier could even speak his mind. “I doubt Cheshire will react well to travelling in this..vessel. Alice must remain where she is. But you could help me secure the chariot so it does not slide about?”

“Give me a minute Nat.” Steve said. He and her son used fancy bungee cord to secure the human wheelbarrow and then took seats across from she and Thor. Finally Steve sighed and called out, “Okay. We’re good to go.” 

She met Steve’s eyes as they lifted off, he was smiling and she smiled back. Tyr turned to him and asked, “You are the soldier yes?” 

“Yes.”

“I am the God of War.”

Steve, probably tired or numb to the weirdness of the night, didn’t even flinch. He just held out his hand and offered his name. “Steve Rogers.” 

“Tyr.” They shook hands and then began a conversation about his time as Captain America. A glance over at Alice found her attention glued to the pair and she instantly realized Tyr was asking Steve all the questions Alice was too afraid to. Or at least providing an opening for him to ask about himself and by extension his family, their family, Alice. 

Thor pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You should rest while you can.” He stroked her cheek with a gentle finger. “I doubt things will get less exciting from here on out.” That made her chuckle a little. 

It took some effort to sit up so she could properly kiss him, but it was worth it. “I love you Thor.” 

“Sleep my love.” He commanded softly. “I will wake you when it is time for you to be the strong one, once again.” Gently he guided her head back to his chest and shifted her body until it was comfortably curled in his lap. 

She fell asleep rather quickly after he started stroking her hair.  
.  
.  
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At a certain point hushed voices roused her, but she remained still and clung to the hope she might go back to sleep. 

“-deal?” Tony’s voice sounded anxious. “I’m very confused. The kids are all calling her mom, but she’s. Darcy’s only been gone for three years. I don’t see how that one could be her kid unless hybrid Asgardians age rapidly? Or you guys adopted?”

“I assure you Man of Iron. She is their true mother by way of blood and marriage.” Thor explained. “We—time moves differently on Asgard. I cannot explain it very well, but Darcy has lived on Asgard with me and my family for the past fifteen years. Not three as you believe.”

“Fifteen years?” He sounded heartbroken. “And she didn’t remember me…that whole time.”

“She always loved you.” Thor offered in solace. “She was bespelled to forget you, but she had inklings of your connection in her dreams. The bond between you must be very powerful to overcome such potent magic’s. Or at least, endure them.”

“She dreamt of me?” 

She could feel Thor nod. “She loves the children she birthed on this world and yet never held. She loves the men who first made her a mother. She such capacity for love the likes of which I have never known before.” She felt the barest touch across her lips but she remained unmoving. “You must count yourself blessed that even when she could not remember you, she loved you.”

“I’ve never stopped loving her.” Tony spoke like it was a confession. “I’ve been looking for her, for a way to bring her home or bring us to her, this whole time. I never lost hope.” 

“In the beginning your separation caused her great sorrow. I would have reunited you earlier had I been able to.” Thor said. Even now, so in love with him, married to him and trusting him with everything she had and was, she wasn’t sure if what he said was entirely true. But she wanted it to be.

“I’m sure.” Tony scoffed meanly. 

“She--I should not speak for her. I am her husband and my love for her will span eons, but I am not unaware of my failings.” Thor’s voice sounded so lost. “She would have you again, I think. We discussed it before we were married…”

“What?” 

“You and Steve Rogers both.” Thor informed him. “She would have you both back in her life, if you are willing.”

“I definitely want back in.” Tony sounded so sure and yet, “I uh, I too can’t speak for—you know.” The sound of his metal suit moving nearly drowned out is next words. “A lot has happened while she was gone.”

“Indeed.” Thor agreed somberly. He held her extra close and pressed a silent kiss to her hair. There was a long beat of silence before Loki’s cruel voice broke the moment. 

“Dear brother, you intrigue me to speak of your failings in regards to your little cow wife. I beg you, elaborate on these failings. Are they confined to the bedroom or are you an incompetent father as well? Is that why you offer these mortals a boon into your life and into the bed of your whore wife--” 

The sound of a metal fist making contact with flesh was a welcome sound to her ears. “Shut it Reindeer Games.”

Loki laughed cruelly. “You really think all three of you could successful share one little cow?” He snickered to himself. “Pathetic.” 

Tony hit him again and this time Loki was silent afterwards. “Your brother’s a dick.” 

With a sigh Thor said, “I know.”  
.  
.  
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Somehow she fell back asleep. The next time she was awoken it was because they had reached their destination. “My love. You must wake.” 

“She should put the armor back on.” Tyr’s voice was grating and she tried not to wince at it. 

“Why?” Alice questioned. “We’ve already subdued the bad guy.” 

“I do not trust this organization ‘Shield’.” In a haughty tone Tyr added, “Besides, you would be a fool to think our uncle not dangerous in his weakened state.”

“He literally has to hop around to go anywhere.” Alice countered. “It’s hilarious.” Darcy let out a yawn and sat up straighter. Next to her Zoran was doing the same. They exchanged sleepy smiles. 

“Do not mock Loki.” Thor chastised. “He is of Asgard.” 

“I am not of Asgard.” Loki disagreed. 

“Brother--”

“And I am not your brother.” Thor looked so beleaguered as he wiped a hand over his face. Darcy patted his shoulder consolingly and rotated her neck working out the kinks, responding for him. “Loki? You know we brought a magical gag right? So. Shut up.” 

Tyr snickered and she smiled at him, but just over her shoulder Natasha’s red hair caught her eye. Steve and Natasha were at the end of the ship gangplank talking to Shield agents who’d obviously arrived to escort them off the jet to…wherever they were going. From all the gesturing she guessed that they were trying to figure out where to stow a Pegasus. 

Thor ran a warm hand down her back and left it there to support her. “Feeling better?” 

Her nap had done her wonders. She felt refreshed and energized if not a little hungry. Her head felt clear. Her heart was still in conflict. Her anxiety about the future was still at an all time high, but she felt good. All things considered. She was even a little excited to get the Loki bullshit over with so she could move on to the good stuff. 

_The real life stuff._

She pecked Thor on the lips and nodded. “Better.” 

“Hey kids, I hate to break up the party but--” Tony was out of his robo-suit. 

“Tony!” She exclaimed as she hopped off of Thor’s lap. “You’re not just a head!” It had been a fleeting thought of hers that he was something akin to a Futurama head in the jar, but on a robot body and she was glad to see her concern was for naught. 

“What?” He said but he didn’t question it as she wrapped him up in a warm hug, he just returned the embrace. There was still something metal in his chest and as she pressed tightly against him she wondered what it was, but her overriding thoughts were _‘Tony’ ‘Tony’ ‘Tony’_ She pressed her face into his neck and inhaled deeply. He smelled the same as she remembered…Maybe a little sweatier. 

“You’re real.” She whispered into his shoulder. It felt a little like she was seeing him again for the first time.

His arms tightened around her and she heard the emotion in his voice even as quipped to try to disguise it. “Now this is more like it.” 

“I missed you.” She told him as she pulled back, and not thinking of her children gathered right behind her, or her husband, or what might have changed between them in her absence, she looked into Tony’s eyes and then kissed him. It was a sweet kiss, it was almost mournful. They had lost time, the one thing that could never be bought or bartered or returned. Reuniting reminded her of what had been stolen from her and it made her sad and glad all at once. His hands moved to her waist and rested their gently. Hers cupped his face. 

“I’m so happy you’re alive.” She whispered as she pressed her lips to his and after a few more seconds of this, the kiss transformed into something more heated. More frantic and impassioned. His hands tightened on her waist pulling her closer. Hers carded through his hair.

“I missed you.” He huskily repeated. He took the kiss further and she got lost in the feel of him. This was the reunion he probably imagined, this is what she didn’t know she had been missing. She didn’t hold back, she kissed him with every ounce of love she had for him, trying to make up for her lack of recognition when they first saw each other. 

“Ewie! He’s gotted his tongue in her mouth!” Zoran exclaimed reminding them both of their audience. 

They broke apart with a gasp. Her chest was heaving and so was his. Looking down her eyes were drawn to the glowing circle just under his t-shirt, there was a metal object embedded in his chest. Silently she asked what it was by tracing the object with one finger. 

Tony picked up her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Later.” He promised. 

Over his shoulder she saw Steve helping Loki down the gangplank into the waiting arms of some anonymous Shield agents. Her body jerked like she’d touched a live wire. She ran around Tony and headed for the men, yelling, “Hey! Where are you taking him?” 

“To a holding cell.” Steve explained as he put a pair of cuffs on her brother in law. They did not look magic proof and she was tempted to mock their craftsmanship. 

“No.” She argued calmly. “You’re not.” 

As everyone followed behind her, Natasha spoke up. “What would you have us do with him?”

“Well, first, where are we?” Darcy asked. Looking around where the Quinnjet had been parked she found darkness, at first sight she assumed they were on a boat as that’s what it looked like. But it’s not what it felt like. “Are we…flying?”

“We can discuss this inside.” Natasha said with authority. She made a gesture and the men on either side of Loki started ushering him forward.

“NO!” Darcy ran around the men and put a hand on Loki’s chest physically stopping him from being pushed around. “You are not putting him anywhere.” 

“Darcy,” Steve approached her with confusion. “What’s the alternative? We put him on a leash and drag him around the complex?”

“You will not.” Thor said darkly as he came to her aid. 

“Well, number one. Loki’s my prisoner not yours, so, back off. I say, no cell.” She looked at the man up and down. He seemed to be fairing well given the circumstances and maiming. She frowned as she realized he was missing something. “Where’s his leg?” 

“They took it.” He informed her grumpily. 

Natasha rolled her eyes at his attitude. “We sent it to medical so they could clean out the debris from the stump and put it on ice so it wouldn’t deteriorate any further.” She gave Darcy a pointed look. “I heard you planned to reattach it?”

“If he’s a good boy.” Tony quipped as he stepped closer to her side. 

She gave the woman a nod and did not say thank you, even though that was extremely helpful and one less thing she had to worry about. Gesturing to the man holding Loki’s left arm she said to Thor, “Take his place,” She waved over Tyr, “You come help on his left side.”

When the Shield agents made to stand their ground Darcy looked over at Natasha warningly, “’m not above resorting to violence.”

“To what end?” Natasha asked. 

“I don’t know.” Darcy admitted. “But where I go. He goes.”

With a look from Nat the Shield agents released Loki and Thor and Tyr rushed in to support him. He didn’t look very relieved. Her hand was still on his chest, she met his eyes and she saw madness. Loki was not the man that he’d been described to her as. His eyes told a story of pain and fear and desperation. It reminded her that he too was a victim caught up in someone else’s scheme. The real enemy was not this pathetic man before them, but the one who sent him to Earth with an army in search of the Tesseract in the first place. 

“Are you sure this is wise?” Thor asked quietly.

“No.” Turning she made eye contact with Tyr. “You were right; I should put the armor back on. Get it for me?”  
.  
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They left the chariot back on the Quinnjet but, when Natasha offered to house the Pegasus in a hanger with someone to watch over her, Alice sent Cheshire off to fly at her leisure. They were told they were over the ocean and Cheshire was like a duck. She enjoyed floating atop the water so they weren’t worried about her becoming fatigued and doing something stupid. They all knew Cheshire was smart enough not to wander far away from the giant flying vessel which housed her mistress. And Darcy had no doubt that if the need arose the animal would heed the call and return. 

Steve and Natasha walked side by side as they were led through the bland hallways of Shields super secret Helicarrier. She could tell by the closeness between the pair that their relationship had developed while she was away. There was an easy camaraderie in the way they interacted now. She only hoped it was friendship and not something more. The snippet of conversation she caught between Thor and Tony played in the back of her mind like a warning. 

Marrying Thor, bearing him children, aging fifteen years. She had changed. It was silly of her to assume that the men she loved had not. Watching Steve smile and laugh at something Natasha said reminded her that the world had not stopped turning while she was gone. 

Their pace, hampered by Loki’s slow gait, grated on her nervous. She was anxious to get to the spy agencies command center so they could get the full scope of the situation explained in detail. So they could deal with it and move on. 

She tugged on Tony’s arm, he and Thor were walking on either side of her. When she had his attention she asked. “Did you find Wanda?” 

Tony’s face went blank but his voice was hollow. “No.” 

Her heart felt like it was plunged into a bucket of ice. Thinking of her pregnant best friend, her smile, her youth, all the hopes and dreams she had for her and Scott and their baby…it was the worst news. “Hydra still has her?” She asked needlessly.

Tony wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Yeah.” 

“They’ve had her for three years?” 

“I’m sorry.” They walked in silence for another couple of feet before she spoke again.

“What about Bucky? Is he still a man without agency, taking orders from Nazi’s and beating up Captain America on TV?” 

Tony clenched his jaw before responding in a clipped tone. “No, uh, Steve got him back.” 

She smiled. “Well, that’s good.” 

“Yeah.” Tony said darkly. “Good.” 

“Mama?” Zoran danced backward in front of her. “What are we doing?” 

“Going to see the one eyed wizard of Shield.” She responded with a smile. Hearing that in her absence at least one soul had been saved brightened her mood considerably.

“Really?” Her son’s eyes lit up. 

“Kinda.” She assured him. 

His face took on a mischievous quality. “Mama, we’re walking really slow.” 

“We are.” She agreed playfully. 

“Can I…?” He didn’t even need to finish the question. She knew what he wanted. She looked over at Natasha. 

“Hey,” The woman turned and she asked, “Fury and all the people with guns know we’re coming right?” 

The redheaded nodded. 

“You sure they won’t be surprised? You got an earpiece on?” She asked.

“Yes.” 

“Tell ‘em not shoot my kid.” She ordered. “Make sure they all know my kid is little and fast and not to be shot if he startles them.” 

Then she gave Zoran a permissive nod. He jumped in the air and pumped his fist, but Tyr grabbed him by the shoulder before he could zoom a head of them. “Why not explore a bit? Get the lay of the ship; see what’s behind every door that you can open then come back and report to me.” 

Zoran looked at her expectantly. “Can I mama?” 

She looked over at Thor who shrugged. Out of all their children, secretly, they both thought Zoran was the most dangerous and most powerful. He’d mastered his powers of Speed at such a young age, they were rarely worried about his physically safety. Emotional and Metal well being? Sure, they babied the crap out of him about that stuff. But going up against a bunch of mortals with guns he could outrun five times over? She was sure he would be fine. “Okay. Just—only doors and stuff that are unlocked. And don’t break anything!”

“Yay!” With a gust of wind he was off running out of her sight. 

“What?!” Tony exclaimed, “You’re going to let a five year old run around—this is Shield Darcy. _Shield._ It’s filled with spies! How can you just—armed spies!” 

She appreciated the concern, but he really didn’t understand the breadth of her children’s power or independence. Darcy patted him once on the back. “He’ll be fine.” 

Steve too chimed in questioning her parenting. “It’s not safe. You should call him back. Now.” 

“He’s the God of Speed, Steve.” She eyed Tony. “And the God of War sent him on an intelligence gathering mission. Trust me; he’ll be back in like two minutes.”

“It’s really the ship you should be worried about.” Alice added. “When Zoran get’s over excited he tends to run in circles and accidently creates vortexes.” 

“Oh please,” Darcy waved off the concern. “He hasn’t done that accidently since he was still in diapers.” 

“You mean like a month ago!?” Tony exclaimed, the worry bleeding through his sarcastic tone. Thor barked out a laugh.

It was then that they reached their destination. 

“What the fuck Romanoff?” Nick Fury stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. His long duster as black and as leathery as she remembered, and his expression was just as annoyed. “Rogers? I told you to lock him up.” He pointed at Loki. “What’s he doing here?” 

Natasha retorted smartly, “Ask Lewis, she’s the one cut off his leg.”  
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Darcy’s Under Armor Clothes  


Darcy’s Armor *back in it by end of chapter  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers. (for reals)  
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> Steve/Nat are not hooking up or romantic at all. They just buds like in canon.


	12. Chapter 12 – …Before The...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are at the middle of the Avengers Movie canon part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Memorial Day My Fellow Americans!  
> I actually proof read the chapter! hooray for non-laziness!

Chapter 12 – …Before The...

No one at SHIELD seemed happy to see her or her children or Loki being dragged around with them. Fury least of all. “Rogers, put that maniac in his cell.” 

“No.” Darcy said as she crossed her arms. “I want him with me.” 

“Then you can join him.” Fury eyed her meanly. “In his cell.” 

Thor puffed up at that. “You will not imprison my wife.” 

“Wife?” Fury said sounding surprised. He looked over at Tyr and Alice with more consideration. “And children…”

“And brother in law.” Darcy said, gesturing to Loki.

“I am not your kin, cow.” Loki snapped. She just rolled her eyes at him. 

Loki ignored her indifference to his continued insult and turned his ridicule on Fury. “You would let this babbling varlet dictate the rules of engagement on your ship?” 

Wise beyond his years Tyr pointed out. “You would try so hard to be locked in a cage?” He let his eyes flicker over to Natasha as he repeated her words from earlier. “To what end I wonder, _Uncle_?” 

Thor nodded. “For some reason unknown to me I believe Loki does want to be imprisoned on this vessel. He had ample time to try to escape when we first had words.”

“And yet,” Tyr gestured to Loki’s body with his hand, “Here he is. Bound and at our mercy.” 

“And so much worse for it.” Alice quipped with a mean smirk. 

“You think he’s planning something?” Fury said, not speaking to her or her family, but to Nat. 

“Was there ever a doubt?” She volleyed back with an unreadable expression. 

“Ha!” Loki barked a laugh. “You fool. You would let children manipulate you?” 

“As opposed to what? Letting you manipulate us instead?” Tony questioned. 

Loki focused his words on Fury knowing he was the one ‘in charge’. “You would let me sit in on your war council as you plot against me? That is what it means to give in to the cows demands.” 

“Man has a point.” Steve said looking at her. “It doesn’t make sense to welcome the enemy into our--”

“Steve!” She said exasperatingly. “Did you not hear him? He _wants_ to be locked up. Ergo, we _shouldn’t_ do that, because is plays right into his hands.” 

“Also a good point.” Tony acknowledged, casting her sincere smile. She took it as encouragement and smiled back resisting the urge to grab him and kiss him again. 

Loki smiling widely at her without joy. “And you think these people do not deserve to be conquered? They would let you, a mortal woman undermine all their plans. Ha!” He let out another mocking laugh and shifted his hateful gaze back to Fury. “Please, keep me with you; hand me the ammunition of your pitiful strategy, meager assets, and boring secrets?”

“We could blindfold him?” Alice offered, trying to help. 

Tyr rummaged around in his satchel and produced the metal gag they’d brought with them. He held the device aloft. “And shut him up.” 

Loki scoffed at them all, but the theatrical nature in which he delivered his words did not obscure the panic Darcy read in his eyes. “Oh my yes, I am quivering in fear at your champions. Children and monsters and mortal men with delusions of grandeur. ”

“Monsters?!” Zoran appeared with a gust of wind that had everyone’s hair swaying in the breeze. “I lookeded all over the ship and I didn’t see any monsters. We’re Uncle Loki just joking? A’cause I just see-ed a lot of people tapping at screens and standing around doing nothing. And toilets, there’s like 6! And a guy in a room looking at the coolest scepter ever. It glowed! I think it’s the magic one you were talkin’ ‘bout before.”

“Who is with Loki’s scepter?” Thor asked.

“Banner probably.” Tony replied quickly, his eyes lighting up as Zoran danced in place obviously very pleased to have competed his mission. 

Tyr looked at his brother with a dry look. “You were supposed to report to _me_ in private. Not announce your findings to those we don’t know or trust yet.” 

Zoran just shrugged. “Whatever. I had fun.” He lowered his voice as if telling them all a secret, “I accidently scareded this one guy while he was on the potty. I think he fell in!” 

Loki barking laughter sounded even more manic now. Darcy wondered just how tenuous his grasp on sanity truly was…and if she had contributed to loosening his hold. He smiled cruelly at Fury making him appear deranged, “You pin your hopes on children and a mindless beast that makes play he’s still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?” 

Fury’s voice grew serious and he took a step towards Loki looking the mad god in the eyes. “How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill ‘cause it’s fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.” 

“Ooh. It burns you to come so close.” Loki said looking delighted at Fury’s reaction. “To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is.” 

Fury looked over at Tyr. “Kid, gag him. I’m tired of listening to ‘Real Power’ flap his gums.”

“Yes sir.” Tyr smiled in satisfaction as he moved to do what the Director ordered.  
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They were lead into the command center and set up to sit around a large table that was on an elevated platform overseeing the many SHIELD agents tapping at computer consoles one level below. As they were settling down Nat disappeared and then reappeared with ear plugs, noise canceling head phones, and a ‘head bag’. Only when Loki was rendered mute, sightless, and deaf did they actually start talking meaningfully.

“So, Loki’s gonna drag this out.” Steve said observationally. His eyes turned to her husband. “So, Thor, what’s his play?” 

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard or any world known, but we have encountered them in the past. They are a formidable adversary. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.” Thor explained.

Darcy raised her finger in the air. “However that is only a theory.” 

“What makes you say that?” Natasha questioned.

Tyr jumped in speaking as if giving a lecture. “On Asgard we have texts that are accounts of battle with the Chitauri. We know they fight well and are a difficult to defeat, but none of the information we have suggests they are creatures of intelligence.” 

Darcy nodded. “So to suggest Loki made a deal with them, to fight for him, in exchange for the Tesseract? That doesn’t make total sense.” 

“What’s your theory then?” Tony asked. 

She looked to Thor; he stared back at her with no answers. “I—it’s irrelevant. Isn’t it?” She looked over at Fury for support. “We can worry about why he wants the Tesseract long term, later. I mean, obvi, he’s using it to bring the Chatauri army here. We just don’t know how.”

“He’s building another portal.” Bruce Banner said, speaking up for the first time since he’d been called into the room to join them. “That’s what he needs the Tesseract for now. And it explains why he took Erik Selvig.”

“Selvig?” Thor said at the same time she exclaimed, “Erik?!”

“You know him?” Bruce asked.

“He’s a friend.” Thor answered for both of them, however the mention of yet another friend in the hands of the evil guys clutches had her reaching for his hand and threading their fingers together. He squeezed her hand back and she felt a little better for it. 

“Darcy, Clint, and I--we stayed with Dr. Foster and Selvig for a time after you--your....” Steve said to Tony, the implication being that they stayed with the man and astrophysicist when they thought Tony was dead. “He was kind to us.” 

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with Barton.” Natasha informed them. 

“Oh god.” Darcy quietly exclaimed. Her heart clenched at the thought of Clint in trouble. During the latter half of her pregnancy she’d grown so close to him, she considered him one of her best friends. 

“Can’t we make Uncle Loki undo the spell like we did for mama?” Zoran asked his innocence so glaringly on display. And then he ruined it adding, “I mean, he has another leg we could chopped off.”

Fury narrowed his eyes at them. “What spell?” At the same time Bruce questioned, “You cut off his leg?”

“And does anyone else find it extremely weird that we’re talking about spells and magic like its real?” Tony quipped. 

Darcy waved her hand at them dismissively, “It doesn’t—the thing with Loki and his leg was just some personal business. It doesn’t pertain to any of this..stuff.” 

“Says you.” Fury pushed repeating himself. “What spell were you under?” 

“Watch your tone old man.” Alice warned. Her daughter stood sentry behind her chair and when Darcy turned to look at her she saw that Alice had one hand on the hilt of her sword. She could only roll her eyes. Her family was comprised of a bunch of over protective drama queens and it was seriously annoying sometimes. 

“I was under a memory spell.” She offered the information freely. “It was—just—it doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine now.”

“Is that why you moved on with Thor?” Natasha said without inflection. “On Asgard you were made to forget your past?” 

Darcy stared at her for a long moment before nodding her head once and quietly admitting. “Partly.” 

“Okay.” Fury said, looking thoughtful. “I agree, that seems immaterial to our current situation.” He looked at her as if seeing her in a new light. “However, I am interested in your methods. You say maiming was effective in forcing his hand?” 

“Abandon your thoughts.” Thor all but growled, “No one is torturing my kin.” 

“Except for your wife.” Fury pointed out. 

“My Love, did what she did with great care and only with the promise of returning to him what was taken.” 

Fury didn’t respond but looked at her with a cool look on his face. Darcy considered the idea that she had just earned the man’s respect. “And will you?” He asked. “Reattach his leg when you take him back to Asgard?” 

“A deals a deal.” She said trying to suppress a smile, she didn’t know why she wanted to smile, but it felt inappropriate so she schooled her features into a blank mask. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Zoran zoom away only to return a second later with a handful of cookies. 

It seemed to her that Tony was the only one besides her that noticed his sneaky actions. Silently she watched as Tony first frowned at her son then held out his hand expectantly making a small ‘gimmie some’ motion. Zoran pouted but shared one of his ill gotten cookies. 

“So Fury,” She said loudly hoping to get the discussion back on track. “What has Loki done, specifically since he came to Earth? Besides steal the Tesseract, hide it where you guys can’t find it, and—I think someone mentioned something about him murdering eighty people in two days?”

“He stole Iridium and we don’t know why.” Bruce informed her. 

“It’s a stabilizing agent.” Tony said informatively, “It means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants.” 

“Ah,” Thor said, “I was wondering how he would ferry the Chitauri onto this world en mass. If he had been forced to do it single file one by one, I’m sure even your meager forces would have been able to take them on.” 

“What else does he need to open the portal beside this irritate-ium?” Alice asked stumbling over the scientific term.

“The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he stills needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.” Tony answered.

“A power source? And, I’m guessing a couple thousand triple AAA batteries won’t cut it.” She joked.

Tony smiled at her. “’Fraid not.” 

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Agent Maria Hill asked. 

“Darcy slept the whole flight back from Germany.” Tony answered ambiguously. 

“What kind of power source does Loki need then?” Alice questioned. 

“He’s got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce said, explaining nothing to the non-scientific minded individuals in the room.

“Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.” Tony responded, speaking geek.

“Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Bruce said.

“And that would be bad.” Darcy interjected, “Right?” She looked pointedly between Tony and Bruce, “You two know you have to dumb all the science down for the rest of us. No one’s impressed by your big brain speak because we have no idea what you’re talking about.”

That made both men chuckle and Darcy smiled warmly. She remembered the last time she’d seen Bruce Banner in person during the Citizen’s Duty process. And she remembered watching him on TV as the ‘HULK’ as the media had dubbed, trashed Culver University. She was glad to see he was doing better, or at least having fun getting his science geek on to save the world. 

“What is your area of expertise?” Tyr asked Bruce. It occurred to her then that neither Thor nor her children had ever heard of the Hulk since those memories came from the year that had been erased.

“He’s a brainy type.” Alice said to her brother, “Duh.” 

“He’s also more than that.” Darcy said as she eyed the mild mannered looking man. “I mean, I think. Right? Or..Did you—are you still--?” She didn’t know how to ask if he was still afflicted by the ‘Hulk’ disease politely. 

Tony came to her rescue. “Does he still lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster? Supposedly. I’m excited to see it happen in person given the opportunity.”

“You really shouldn’t be.” Bruce discouraged. 

Her children straightened up at that, but it was Zoran who was most titillated. Jumping up onto the top of the table he raced across it to Bruce. Jumping up and down in front of the man excitedly he chanted, “Do it now! Do it now! Show me! Show me! Show me!” 

“No.” Bruce said with serious expression. “No, you really don’t want me to do that kid.” 

“Like poop I don’t!” Zoran ran over to her, pleading, “Does he really turn into a monster or are you just foolin’?”

Next to her Thor held out his arms invitingly. “Come here son.” Zoran’s shoulders slumped but he dutifully jumped into his father’s arms allowing him to restrain him in his lap. Thor brushed back some of Zoran’s hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You must contain yourself Zoran. This is not a game or practice. Real lives are at stake should Loki’s mad plan come to fruition and we must treat this situation with the gravity it deserves.”

Zoran tried to argue. “But if we have a monster on our side why not let him loose and smash--” 

“Smash who?” Tyr questioned. “Our uncle? Mother has incapacitated him most shrewdly.”

“Well, okay,” Zoran acknowledged, but did not give up. “But what about the Chitauri? They ride around on those big things and if we let a monster out to fight them it would be the coolest thing ever!” 

“And kill thousands in the process.” Tyr warned him trying to curb her son’s excitement.

“Maybe.” Zoran pouted, “But I still think letting the monsters fight would be cool.” 

“Tyr’s right honey,” She ran her hand through Zoran’s hair, sad they had to temper his enthusiasm. They’d been careful to keep Zoran’s training very fantastical and blood free up until that point. They’d trained him to use his powers against beings made of rocks like the Kronanians or like the wild Snaketpus. Beings that were unequivocally ‘alien’ and ‘dangerous’. The concept of a people at risk due to a glorious battle was so foreign to his thinking. Especially since on Asgard they had protections to shelter the city and palace to keep people safe if the world was under attack. “Earth isn’t like home,” She reminded him. “If a huge awesome monster fights were to happen it would knock down buildings and destroy lives. The Chitauri invading and attacking would be devastating for the people who live here.” 

“Don’t they have a way to keep the fighting out of the city?” Zoran asked. “Like Grandpa showed me that one time?”

Darcy looked over to Fury, “Did you guys develop invisible energy force field technology while I was gone?” 

“Asgard has that?” Bruce asked sounding surprised. 

“You don’t?” Zoran countered sounding equally astonished. He then stuck his thumb in his mouth and leaned back against Thor’s chest recling comfortably. Looking annoyed and little defeated he lectured, “That a very irrespo-tpal. Peoples a’could get hurt if you don’t have a way to keep the battles far away from them.”

Fury looked a little amused by her son as he told him, “We’ll get right on that.”

Undeterred by her youngness’s antics Maria Hill was all business as she asked. “What can you tell us about the Chitauri?” 

Her words were directed at Thor and even as her husband opened his mouth to answer, Tyr jumped in as he always did when the opportunity to show off his vast knowledge arose. “The Chitauri are a cold-blooded, technologically advanced race. They are born organic, but their soldiers are cybernetically enhanced at an early age with electronic neural networks and armor fused into their bodies. They are controlled by a Mother Ship which never shows on the battlefield.” 

“Are you saying these things have a hive mind?” Steve leaned in; she could practically see the strategic wheels turning in his head. 

“Yes.” Tyr answered with a nod. 

“That should make taking them out a little easier.” Nat said in an aside to Steve. 

“You would think that.” Alice said snidely, there was hostility in her demeanor that Darcy didn’t completely understand. When she gave her daughter a questioning look, Alice averted her gaze.

“So if we destroy the Mother Ship, all the soldiers die with it?” Steve asked for clarification. 

“No.” Darcy exclaimed, suddenly angry how they were all speaking like the invasion was inevitable. “We—the whole point of us coming here, to this meeting I mean. Of keeping Loki attached to my hip-” She tapped the man on the shoulder illustratively, he turned his head in her direction but otherwise remained mute and unawares. “Is to stop the invasion from happening in the first place. Not battle strategy how to fight them.”

“Honey,” Tony said gently, “We have to be prepared.” 

With a frown she responded, “But you agree the smart play, is to find the Tesseract and stop the army from arriving at all.” 

“Of course.” He agreed. “But, we shouldn’t dismiss--”

“I know.” She sighed defeated, the anger ebbing away from her as quickly as it had risen up. “I know.” 

“So, find the Tesseract. That’s our priority?” Alice asked. 

“Yes.” Fury said folding his arms. He gestured to Bruce with his head, “We brought in Dr. Banner to track it. Stark, you can help him.” 

“You should look into the scepter Loki brought with him. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon.” Steve said with a point of his finger. 

Fury looked older and more burdened as he said, “I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.” 

She felt Steve and Tony’s eyes cut over to her at the Wizard of Oz reference. She gave them a small smile. 

“Monkey’s? I do not understand.” Thor said. In his lap Zoran spoke around the thumb he was still sucking on, “Me ‘ither.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Darcy consoled as Tony got to his feet and looked over at Bruce. “Shall we play, doctor?” 

Bruce rose from his seat as well. “Sure.” Looking over at Zoran in Thor’s lap he warned, “It might take us a couple hours to learn anything useful.” 

Thor nodded at his consideration and stroked a comforting hand over Zoran’s belly making the little boy grin around his thumb. Her eyes tracked every step as Tony and Bruce walked out of the room. Before he was out of sight, Tony turned and blew her a kiss making cheeks heat up.

“So what are we expected to do while the brain-trust investigate?” Alice exclaimed, “Sit around on our asses doing nothing?!” 

“Yes.” Fury told her with a pointed look, “In fact. You all can remain right here at this table until I say otherwise.” 

Darcy snorted. “Dude, you’d be better off asking nicely than basically begging us to do the opposite of what you say.”  
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They stayed at the conference table for a while. Fury kept Thor and the kids occupied by sitting down with them and asking questions about Loki, his abilities, and more specific questions about the Chitauri army. While they were occupied Darcy got up and joined Nat where she was sitting at a computer where the other Shield minions were working. 

Leaning against the console she greeted the woman with a brief smile. “Hi.” 

“Hello.”

“So, Clint?” Her throat felt a little dry at the thought of him in danger. “He’s under a mind control spell? Like, what the fuck. I thought he didn’t work for you guys anymore. How did he get wrapped up in this bullshit?”

“After you left the planet he only stayed on with Rogers for a couple more weeks. Then Stark got rescued—or should I say, he rescued himself. Came back to the states and fired Barton upon hearing you were abducted by aliens.” 

“I was not abducted.” Darcy corrected, “I was emergency airlifted to another planet and then stranded there.” 

Nat shrugged as if this made no difference. “Tony was distraught and needed a scapegoat. He blamed Clint and Clint let him. He really had no choice but to rejoin Shield, he doesn’t do well being restless. But now he’s a puppet on a string for a one legged maniac.” She eyed the bagged head of Loki. “I still don’t think letting him get so close to us is smart.” 

She looked over at Loki’s bound form. She felt the exact opposite. “I think keeping Loki close will keep us safe.”

Nat looked down hiding her smile. “As obstinate as ever I see.”

“I suppose.” She acknowledged with a small smile of her own. 

“Hey, so. I get that you guys are a super secret spy agency and all, but where’s Jessica? Or--” She stopped herself just short of saying Matt’s name. Natasha more than the other Shield agent knew there was something special about Matt Murdoch but she wasn’t sure the lady spy knew the specifics. Jessica Jones however, all of Shield knew about her super powers following the incident on Halloween. In her book Jessica was a heavy hitter, so the agency not recruiting or bribing or plain hiring the woman made no sense to her. Especially, not with the fate of the planet on the line. And even more especially when the battle was supposed to go down somewhere in NYC based on the Iridium tracking info. “Don’t you think you guys could use all the muscle you can get? I think Jessica Jones more than proved herself at the Halloween Electric Masquerade, don’t you?” 

The left side of Natasha’s mouth lifted as she crossed her arms and leant back in her chair to stare at Darcy more directly. “I thought your aim was to stop the invasion before it came to trading blows with the alien invaders?” 

“It is but--” 

“But?” Natasha prompted with a challenging grin. 

“Oh shut up.” Darcy pushed at the woman’s shoulder playful. Natasha chuckled and shooed away the man who was working next to her, she invited Darcy to take the seat by patting it gently. “Come sit.”

Darcy was grateful as standing for too long was killer on her lower back. “Thanks.”

A second later her mood turned dour again as Steve approached and joined their little group; he took up the place she had just been standing at. Resting his hip against the computer console his appearance immediately reminded her of the millions of things she was afraid to learn about that happened while she was off world. 

Steve, who had approached them when she and Nat were bantering, seemed a little deflated as the friendly atmosphere disappeared upon his arrival. Her conversation with Natasha also brought to mind the idea of calling in allies who could provide a formidable defense for the planet during an invasion. However only one name echoed in her thoughts as she stared at Steve’s face. 

She eyed him warily. “I got a little information out of Tony before, about what I’ve missed out on. But, Wanda? Seriously? Why haven’t you found her?”

“Darce-”

Before he could answer more questions came to her mind and she just couldn’t help but interrupt to ask, “What about her baby? How’s Scott? God-no don’t answer that, he’s probably—anyway, how is Hydra still active? How have they evaded you guys for this long? Did the organization go underground or something? Wanda has powers and we know that’s why they were after her, so have you seen evidence of them trying to force her to use them like they did with the Winter Soldier? I also heard he got rescued, so yay, but also, what’s taking so long with Wanda’s rescue in comparison? And how’s Scott--”

“Slow down.” He pled interrupting the flow of questions tumbling from her lips. “Just, sweetheart, I can’t--”

Nat jumped in saying, “The questions you’re asking aren’t easy to answer Darcy. To explain everything that’s happened in your absence requires a conversation not a rapid fire Q & A.” 

Darcy gestured behind her vaguely in the direction of where Bruce and Tony had departed. “You heard Banner, we’ve got time before they even get a clue as to where to look for the Tesseract. So, let’s converse.” 

Nat and Steve exchanged a look and seemed to communicate with just their eyes. It kind of pissed her off that they would do so blatantly in front of her. Purposefully excluding her. “Steve!” She said his name sharply and his eyes snapped back to her face. “Talk to me. Now.” 

“Why don’t you two go to conference room C for privacy?” Natasha suggested. “This is not a conversation you should when there are so many ears around listening.” 

That made her think of SHIELDRA and Darcy worried her lower lip, casting a suspicious gaze around the multitude of Shield agents she grew concerned. She had assumed that following the big Hydra inside Shield reveal and the amount of time that had passed, they wouldn’t have to worry about espionage bullshit or secret Nazi’s. It was a little disquieting, that might not be the case. Just like Wanda’s status.

“C’mon Sweetheart. I know the way.” Steve extended his hand to her and timidly she took it, allowing him to help her to her feet. 

Ever vigilant Tyr called out. “Mom? Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” She gripped Steve’s bicep wrapping her arm around him and bringing them a little closer together. The warmth of his body was solid and reassuring and despite her absence and the feeling that things had changed between them, having Steve by her side was a comfort. “I’m just going to another room to have a private conversation with Steve.” 

“Do you need…?” Alice didn’t need to finish the sentence. She knew her daughter was asking if she needed emotional back up. 

“Keep the boys in line.” She told her daughter.

Tyr scoffed. “As if I need to be minded. I have everything perfectly under control.” 

“Oh yeah?” Alice countered, “Where’s Chip?” Darcy knew the dog was asleep under the conference table; she could see him as she held onto Steve and followed him out of the room. However, like her daughter, she enjoyed the panic Alice’s words caused in her sons.

“WHAT!?” Zoran screeched, “You lost-ed CHIPPY?”

“I did not lose him!” Tyr denied. “I just don’t—he’s under the table isn’t he?” 

The sound of Alice’s cackling made her snort and smile, press her face into Steve’s arm she told him, “I blame her troll-ish behavior on you, ya know.”  
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When they’d settled into a small room with a large table Darcy pressed for answers before her ass even hit the chair. “Why haven’t you guys rescued Wanda yet? One would hope a powerful pregnant mutant in the hands of the enemy might be a priority.” 

Steve collapsed into the chair next to her. “I thought—with what Nat said, I thought what you _really_ wanted privacy to talk about was so I could tell you about Maria-Sarah and--”

“No.” 

Steve wiped a tired hand over his face, “Sweetheart, I know Wanda’s your friend and I care about what happened to her too but,” He sounded so sad and it hurt her to see him that way. “Is she more important than your children? Our children?! This is our first conversation together in three years. Don’t you even care about we’ve handled life without you?”

“Of course I do!” She exclaimed angrily. “I want to know every fucking detail of their lives since I’ve been gone. Every ‘first’ that I missed. Every funny story. Every boo boo—I want to know--” Getting so emotionally worked up so fast, she had to stop herself from screaming or bursting into tears. Taking a calming breath she continued in a low but forced flat tone. “If I asked you to take out a phone and start showing me pictures that would be it. I’d be done. I’d want to leave and go home to them. Be with them. Hold them, meet them….”

Understanding finally began to show on Steve’s face. He looked a little ashamed as he whispered, “I’m sorry. Of course you care. That was out of line.”

“I just can’t think about them right now.” 

“I get it.” He nodded. “I get that.” 

“I—I would like to know there okay though.” 

“They’re perfect.” Steve swore. “You gave us wonderful beautiful children.” 

“No. What I mean is, where are they? Not New York, obviously, so Malibu? Who’s with them?” Her drive to stay focused on Loki-invasion problem was entirely fueled by keeping her loved ones safe, knowing they were far from New York when all hell broke loose was about as much information regarding Maria-Sarah and Anthony Jr she could handle. 

Steve looked stricken. “Oh god.” 

“Holy shit, are they really…?!” She exclaimed. She had been half expecting Steve to say ‘of course they’re on the other side of the country safe and sound with Pepper and Happy and the dogs and--’. It felt like her heart stopped beating even as her mouth yelled, “Steve! Are you fucking kidding me!?” 

She slapped him on the shoulder as he fumbled to get his phone out. “You didn’t have them evacuated even though you know and alien invasion was on its fucking way!?” 

She knew the hard slap of her hand on his arms was barely a tickle beneath the padding and reinforced material that made up his suit, but she kept striking out at him, venting her frustrations. Steve explained as he pressed buttons frantically. “We just found out that Banner’s tracking the Iridium and the portal’s going to open somewhere in New York. And, we were busy making a game plan and—I thought the alien was in Germany!”

She slapped at his shoulders furiously even though it was beginning to hurt her hand. “YOU HAD SIX HOURS WHILE WE WERE ON THE FUCKING QUINNJET! YOU KNEW WE WERE GOING IN THE NEW YORK DIRECTION HOW COULD--” 

“I know!” Steve raised his voice back at her, but not nearly as loud or angrily as she. “I know.” He said gruffly as he put the phone to his ear. 

“Who are you calling?” She demanded. 

He didn’t answer her, just started speaking as the person on the other end picked up. “Jarvis! Thank god. Are the kids still with--? Tony called earlier?” His whole person relaxed and Darcy breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Tony had handled it. Her children were safe. 

“So they’re safe?” Steve asked for confirmation. “...Oh thank god,” He let out a little chuckle and looked up at her with a broad smile across his face. “Darcy and I just ‘bout had a heart attack. Thanks Jarv—hey!” 

She stole the phone out of Steve’s hand. Unhappy with his response and lack of communication her voice was stern and no-nonsense as she demanded answers from the AI. “Jarvis? Where are my children?” 

“Miss Darcy,” Her body quivered and she let out a whimper when she heard Jarvis’s cultured voice for the first time in fifteen years. Her visceral reaction was a surprise; she hadn’t realized how much she missed him. “How lovely to hear your voice again! I was very pleased when we learned of your safe return to Earth. Welcome home.” 

The righteous anger inside her subsided as memories bonding with the AI flickered through her mind. There had been certain points during the pregnancy that Jarvis was her life line and occasionally her only human-ish companion while Steve and Tony were away at work. She clutched the phone tightly. “Jarvis,” She sniffed, “Hi.” 

“You sound distressed Miss Darcy. Shall I contact Sir? Are you in need of assistance?” 

“No.” A few tears welled up in her eyes and she brushed them away with a harsh sounding laugh. “No. I’m—I just missed you. That’s all.” 

Jarvis sounded as emotional as an artificially intelligent program could be. “Your absence has been felt by all, myself included.” 

Sniffing up mucus she chortled. “Have you become more human while I was away? Or am I just imagining thing?” 

There was amusement in his voice when Jarvis responded, “Your absence has inspired much change. I am also now versed in the deep mythology of not only ‘My Little Pony’, but ‘Yo Gabba, Gabba!’ and ‘Blue’s Clues’. I spend much time educating and entertaining the little Sir and little Miss.”

That made her let out a genuine laugh. She could only imagine how indispensable Jarvis had been in helping Tony and Steve corral their children once they learned to walk and talk. As the mother of the God of Speed, she knew the value of things that captured a young child’s attention enough to make them stop, sit, and listen. 

“You asked where your children were.” Jarvis said addressing the reason she had stolen Steve’s phone in the first place. “They are safe and currently flying somewhere over Iowa, Sir charted a private jet when you were on your way back from Germany and it became clear a attack might take place in New York. They are presently fast asleep.”

“And who’s with them?” She asked hungry for information about her children and their well being.

“They are being escorted by Mr. Hogun, Ms. Potts, Mr. Barnes, and Colonel Rhodes.” 

“Okay.” She sighed. Her eyes flickered back over to Steve. Tears were shining in his eyes and she didn’t know what had him so emotional, but she felt compelled to comfort him. Reaching out she grabbed her hand with hers and gave it a squeeze. 

She didn’t want to cause Steve pain and if explaining what had happened while she was too hard for him, she was willing to accommodate him. “Jarvis?” She asked, “Can you tell me where Wanda is?” 

Steve’s grip tightened on her hand. “Sweetheart--”

She blocked him out as Jarvis answered her question as concisely as possible. “As far as we know Ms. Maximoff is in the company with Doctor List and Wolfgang Von Strucker, the former being a prime figurehead of HYDRA the latter one of its most powerful and notorious leaders. Her location, however, is unknown.”

“Why?”

“Excuse me Miss Darcy. Why what?” Jarvis asked for clarification. She wanted to say, ‘why was Wanda not rescued yet’ or ‘why were Steve and Tony and Shield so inept that they couldn’t rescue one of her best friends in three years time’ or ‘why the fuck this was her life’. Except, she said none of that. 

She changed the subject instead to things that might actually be helpful. “Where’s Jessica Jones?” 

“New York City in the office of her private investigation agency.” 

“Can you call her and give her the heads up about the invasion?” Tony was right when he said they couldn’t ignore the possibility that they might not be able to stop the invasion before it started. A part of Darcy was so used to the idea that she was weak and helpless as compared to the Asgardians she’d spent the last fifteen years living amongst, she had little faith that they could leave the thwarting of an alien invasion up to the humans and be successful.Despite knowing Steve was Captain America and seeing Tony in a literal flying suit of armor and knowing what a badass lady spy Natasha was, she couldn’t help but feel that if it should come to fighting, the bulk of the burden would fall to Thor and Asgardian raised children. 

And while she was hoping it wouldn’t come to a destructive alien battle in the heart of one of the most densely populated cities in America, she knew it might. And stacking the deck in their favor with some more super powered individuals would make her feel so much better. “J? Tell her to be ready to fight monsters.” 

There was a long pause before Jarvis said, “I believe Miss Jones is sleeping off a late night of imbibing too much alcohol. But she has trusted associates I can prompt into rousing her.”

“And what about Matt? Is he still in Hell’s Kitchen?” She looked around the room for a window or a clock. It had been dark when they had arrived on the helicarrier, but it had been a while since then. “What time is it?” 

“4:56 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.” Jarvis said answering her question easily. “Mr. Murdoch is still living and working in Hell’s Kitchen. Shall I warn him of the invasion as well?” 

“And invite him and Jessica to a landmark we can use as a home base when we touch down—do we still own Stark Tower?” 

“Yes Miss.” 

“Then send them there. We can all meet up there and--” 

“Sweetheart,” Steve put his hand on her arm, “we can’t involve Jessica or Matt. Their civilians. It isn’t our place to ask them to join the fight.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him, confused and kind of enraged by his response. “Matt is a ninja with enhanced senses and Jessica could juggle you and an elephant riding a motorcycle. They are not civilians. And they are not afraid of a fight.” 

“You don’t know that--”

“And you don’t know what the Chitauri look like. How big they are. I read about them. And I watched this one holo-text and they are proportional in size and power to armored flying space whales. And riding on those flying space whales are tough little soldier creatures ready to detach and fight anyone on foot with their technologically advanced weaponry.” Steve opened his mouth to argue but cut him off, “If Jessica and Matt want to live? They’ll fight. They’ll fight for their lives and the lives of the people they love. And just like, fucking innocent people and shit. Inviting them into the super secret ‘oh-no-the-planet’s-being-invaded’ knowledge club won’t change that. But letting them know ahead of time and getting them to the heart of the city? It might make their efforts more effective.” 

“It could cause a panic.” Steve argued. “We should discuss this with the others. Shield protocol dictates--”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?!” She yelled jumping up from her seat. Turning her back to Steve she spoke briskly into the phone, “Jarvis, get Jessica and Matt up to speed and tell them to be ready for an attack. Okay? Okay.” 

“Yes Miss Darcy.” Without saying goodbye she hung up and threw Steve’s phone at his chest. 

“Darcy!” Steve caught it one handed then set down. Rising to his feet he put his hands out as if she was a dangerous animal that he didn’t want to spook. “Calm down.” 

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?” She screamed, praying it was her pregnancy hormones that were contributing to her mercurial mood swings. “Don’t tell me to calm down.” 

“I’m sorry.” Steve reached out for her, but she slapped his hands away. 

“Don’t touch me.” 

Something hardened in Steve’s expression and he reached for her again. “Darcy, come here.” 

“No!” She backed up causing the chair behind her to roll, but Steve didn’t let her get far. He overpowered her and ignored her protests, bringing her into his arms. She thrashed and folded her arms at the elbows keeping them up and in between her and Steve’s chests to create distance.

“Honey,” Steve cooed gently. “You’re crying. Please Darce, calm down. Being this upset isn’t good for your baby.” 

She hadn’t realized she was crying, but the second he said it she became aware. Her struggles to be free of his embrace stopped. Her hands were still balled up into fists and she was still angry and kind of wanted to hit him, but also, she felt like sobbing uncontrollably in his arms. “Steve?”

She felt out of control and like the world was on the brink of something terrible and no matter her efforts her loved ones were in danger and all she wanted was to turn back time and go back to before she left for Asgard but also, have the family she loved and made there at the same time. She wished there was someone to blame for what her life had become. For the choices she had made. For the chaos that her world had plunged into….she needed someone to be angry with besides herself because the weight of what she was feeling felt crushing.

A guttural sob bubbled out of her throat and a great tremor overtook her. Steve’s voice was soft and his hands gentle, “You’re okay Sweetheart. I’m here. I’m here for you.” 

She unclenched her fists and grasped at Steve’s shoulders. Clinging to him she pressed her face into his chest. Her nose lined up with the white star on his suit. “Steve?”

Steve’s arms around her felt like a warm blanket. “I’m here.” 

“I don’t even know why I’m crying!” She exclaimed as tears raced down her cheeks. 

“It’s okay.” Steve moved to half sit on the table they were standing next to. He pulled her closer and then picked her up setting her butt on his thigh. She kept her eyes cast down to his chest, too confused and ashamed by her emotions to look him in the eye.

“I love you Darcy Lewis.” He cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears with his thumb. His other arm was like cushioned steel around her waist, keeping her secure and warm as she had a mental breakdown for no fucking reason. 

She let her head fall onto his shoulder and just cried and cried until she felt empty. Steve held her the whole time and said comforting words but didn’t try to talk her out of crying or demand an explanation or an apology for how shitty she had just treated him. He just held her. He was there for her just like always.

And she loved him so much for that. For loving her when she was weak and crazy and made no sense at all. 

When it was quiet and her tears were spent, Steve began talking. “Two days after you left for Asgard, Tony escaped the terrorists that had held him captive and Rhodes found him wandering in the desert. He built that suit of armor and became a superhero, all the while caring for the kids and me and the dogs and his company and—he had help of course. And, I was okay for a while. I had the kids to focus on, Tony’s return to deal with…I never stopped loving you or missing you, but with my mind occupied, the thought of you hurt less because I didn’t have time to think of you at all.”

That was exactly how she felt about talking about Maria-Sarah and Anthony Jr.

Steve sighed and readjusted her, bringing her closer to his chest as he wiggled backwards to sit more comfortably on the table top. “And then we found Bucky. And I...Natasha and I discovered that Hydra used him to murder Tony’s parents.”

“Holy shit.” She exclaimed weakly, too wrung out to react more animatedly. 

“Yeah.” Steve’s voice held a lot of emotion as he continued to talk. “I was forced to choose between Tony and Bucky and..Buck needed me more. Tony—I told him about how Howard died. I don’t know if I wanted him to hate me so he’d tell me to leave or I thought I was doing the right thing, but, I told him what the ‘Winter Soldier’ had done to his family and he did not take it well.” 

“Well, yeah.” She agreed easily. She could sympathize with Tony. That had to have been an emotional kick to the crotch, innately she felt guilty for not being there for them both.

“For about a year me and Sam and Bucky and Maria-Sarah lived on the road. Tony hunted us relentlessly, but he was also dying from palladium poisoning from the arc reactor in his chest, so his focus was split making his efforts easy to evade. And—on the road I kept calling him. I think over time I wore him down. Or he got tired. But every week I would call and we would talk about what was happening between us. About Bucky and what he deserved. About something cure Maria-Sarah did. Or about, you. Whatever it was that I said or he felt. Eventually, he let his hatred of Bucky go and asked us to come home. All of us.” 

There was so much about what Steve had revealed that she had follow up questions about. She was livid that he took her baby on the road, separated her from her brother, from the all knowing and safety of Jarvis’s domain, put her at risk by being in close proximity to a mental deranged POW. She wanted to know more about Tony being poisoned? And the metal thing in his chest. And just how they could all be so fucking stupid in her absence as to abandon each other when they needed love and support most of all. However, what came out of her mouth was a mocking, “Tony just let the murder of his family go?” 

Steve began rubbing circles on her back as he explained, “I guess, he came round to the idea that holding Bucky account for crimes he committed while he wasn’t in control of his actions wasn’t the right thing to do.”

“Or he got lonely and missed you enough to give up his vendetta so you would come home.” She theorized, “You did go home after he forgave you right?” 

“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, “We all went home to Malibu.” 

She had a feeling that wasn’t the end of the story. “So everything’s fine between you two?” 

There was a long pause before Steve answered her and it built up a quick flash of panic inside her heart. 

“I live with Tony. I love Tony. I co-parent with Tony, but things aren’t—we never went back to the way we were before--” He choked on his words and when she looked up at his face she found him crying silently. Her heart broke for all the pain her guys had been through without her. 

“Oh honey.” She doubted it felt as reassuring when she wrapped her tiny arms around him and hugged him, but she offered him as much comfort as she could. “It’s okay! It’s okay. Things, things change. That’s the nature of life. I—It’s okay. I’m back now. I’m here.” 

“It’s been so hard.” Steve cried into her shoulder, “It’s been so hard without you. I missed you so much. I didn’t think I could do this without you. Tony was a mess when he came back and found you were gone, possibly dead. And I—I held things together as long as I could but I--” His words dissolved into tears and Darcy had no idea what to do.

So she held him. And she told him things were okay. She was there for him the way he was for her and she hoped it was enough.

“I hurt Tony so much by choosing to run with Bucky rather than help Tony bring him to justice.” Steve confessed after his tears finally tapered off. “I—when I came back with Maria-Sarah and Bucky…Tony let him with us. Let the man who killed his parents, eat his cereal. Swim in his pool. Babysit his son. Honey, I didn’t know a person could be that strong, but Tony forgiving Bucky, forgiving me? The person he was for you and to you, he’s that person all the time now.” 

Steve stopped talking even though it was clear he had more to say. More he dreaded saying. 

Reaching up she wiped his face clear of the remains of his tears and leaned up to peck him on the cheek. He stared at her and she saw fear in his eyes.

“And?” She prompted. 

“And over the course of this past year I forced Tony to watch me fall in love with Bucky.”

The information hit her like a Mac truck. She was dazed and confused and beyond that didn’t know how to feel. Was she happy for him? Was she angry? Did she have the right to get mad at Steve for doing whatever he had to in order to survive emotionally speaking? Hadn’t she done the same thing, but worse? “Oh.” 

Steve’s gaze shifted to the wall and his grip on her body tightened. “I had convinced myself you were dead. That the baby didn’t survive. That you were never coming back. And in doing that, I drove Tony away because after we found Bucky he was filled with hope to find you and reunite in the face of impossible odds. And I was the opposite. He was so determined---I would have hated him for it if I didn’t have Bucky and the kids to keep me going.”

He actively avoided her gaze and she didn’t blame him. 

“Is he, Bucky, okay..physically? Mentally? I mean, he lost his arm and got a fake Nazi one in return. And—after my own experience, I know how unsettling it can be to just wake up one day in shock and have to deal with non-consensual body modification.”

“What?”

“After the memory wipe spell, I had this post-pregnancy body and no idea how I got that way. It—I was thrown. I was weird-ed out and confused. And I hated the way I looked, my tummy was all stretched out and I—it was like I went to bed normal Darcy and woke up fat and all stretched out and leaking milk. So, like adding a layer of ‘I-murdered-innocent-people-against-my-free-will’ guilt on top of that? Recovery must be a bitch.” Genuinely, her heart bled for Bucky even if he’d thrown a gigantic monkey wrench into the works that was her life. 

Steve looked at her in the eyes with a sense of wonder and she didn’t know why. “I love you.” He said sounding awed.

She answered without thinking, even though the dynamics of their romantic relationship had never been more complicated. “I love you too.” 

Steve nodded acknowledging, “Buck--He has his bad days, but we, Sam and I, think he just needs time to heal his fractured mind all the way. He has a lesser version of the super soldier serum running through his veins so, chances are he’ll recover fully in time. Right now though, memories from our past together come and go, but the present is solid for him. And that’s an accomplishment we’re really proud of.” 

It was just a little thing he said, ‘we’. Steve said ‘we’re really proud’. Referring to himself and Bucky, like they were a unit, a team. A couple. And that little word ‘we’ it was so casually delivered. She could tell how much Steve loved him from the way he spoke about him. Back before they knew Bucky was alive, he’d confided in her that he wasn’t sexually attracted to men in the past but more specifically, ‘Bucky-sexual’. 

In a way, she wasn’t surprised at all by the turn of events. However she was a little shocked by how painful it was to hear Steve using the word ‘we’ and knowing he didn’t mean he and she or Tony. 

“He’s great with the kids too.” Steve boasted. The irrational hormonal part of her raged at his negligence to allow a mentally unstable man in the middle of a painful recovery process, near her helpless children. 

“That’s nice.” She commented as she put her head back on his chest so he couldn’t see her expression. “I’m happy for you Steve.”

There was a beat of silence before Steve confessed, “Darcy, I have no idea what this means for us.” 

“Me either.” 

They spent a good five minutes just sitting in silence, holding each other.  
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While she and Steve were sequestered, night had turned into day. When they made their way back to the bridge all the windows were full of sunlight and it made her squint a little. Once she got her bearings her eyes went to Zoran who was curled up in a ball on top of the table cuddled around Chip. The pair was sound asleep and she gave a thought to the time difference and the jet lag and what it would do to their bodies natural sleep schedule. 

Hill was standing at the little platform’s main view screens looking at monitors. Looking around Darcy didn’t see any other familiar faces.

“Where is everybody?” She asked with Steve on her heels.

“Banner’s lab.” The woman answered without looking up. Darcy made a move towards her son unsure if waking him was the smartest thing, but still wanting them all to be together. However, Zoran looked so peaceful, so small and innocent, she hated to disturb him. 

When Chip’s legs began to move as he chased something in his dreams she let out a chuckle. As if sensing her hesitation Steve offered, “I could pick him up and carry him. Might not wake him if he’s a heavy sleeper?” After a moment’s consideration he said, “Can’t promise the same for the dog though.” 

“What’s that?” Hill muttered talking to herself.

Darcy looked at her, but off in the distance out the large window, she saw what the woman had to have been referring to. “Dude, is that another plane headed straight at us?” 

Steve looked up at the expansive windows. “Hill?” He demanded stalking to stand next to her at the monitors. 

“Hail that carrier!” She commanded to one of her minions. A nearby Shield agents working below called out, “661 Bravo, please relay your pass code. What is your hull, over?”

Darcy watched as the agent listened to the response over a headset before turning to relay the information to the superior officer on deck. “Ma’am they said, arms to ammunition.” 

Hill turned to Steve. “It’s just a supply ship.” Darcy remained tensed up because despite her words, Hill looked worried. 

“Aren’t we on a super secret flying spy ship?” She questioned. “What deliveries are so important that we would risk giving our position away to air traffic control or whatever?”

Maria turned and began tapping at a monitor muttering, “I don’t know.” 

Darcy moved to join them at the main console, even though she had no idea what any of the stuff on screen meant. Steve slipped an easy arm around her waist offering silent comfort. The more agitated Hill became tapping at stuff that seemed to not respond as she wanted it to, the more anxious Darcy became. 

“There!” Steve shouted, pointing to one of the tiny squares that showed the ships many points of surveillance. 

“Holy shit!” Maria quietly exclaimed. Darcy didn’t even have time to find out what they saw before something exploded and pandemonium erupted.  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.  
> One person in the comments last chapter figured out where the Steve/Bucky was coming from and I am kind of proud of them. Please let me know what you all thought of the chapter. Cuz I am not sure if I want to follow canon big action fight, or do it in a different more talk out your problems way. So thoughts on this would be welcome.
> 
> Also, I wrote a companion piece to Bed Surfing and it's gonna be like a bunch of one-shots of unseen sex scenes or slice of life POV stories, so if you are interested in that, you might want to check it out.  
> [Click me to read In Between The Sheets, a Bed Surfing Companion Piece](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24345250/chapters/58704832)  
> 


	13. Chapter 13 – …Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conflict on the helicarrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND, ACTION!

Chapter 13 – …Storm

Pandemonium erupted. Emergency alarms were set off, fire extinguishers activated near surrounded fires and every agent was scrambling to get back into position or load up with armaments. Darcy was just lucky she had been standing next to Steve when the explosion happened as his strong arm around her waist prevented her from taking a header off the platform. “You okay?” He asked as he grabbed something out of his utility belt and handed it to her. 

“I’m okay.” Something on the ceiling made a noise behind her and she jumped letting out a startled, “Ah!” Looking up she saw an automated fire extinguisher put out a fire on one of the computers down below. 

Steve took her free hand and covered the object he had handed her, bringing her attention back to the object in her hand he commanded her, “Put this on.” 

“What is it?” She asked, but Steve was already moving away to check on Zoran and Chip, for which she was grateful as she was still a little shaken. Looking down at the object Steve had given her she found an earpiece. “Oh.” She said to herself, “I guess I’m a part of the team or whatever. Coooool.”

It was not cool. She did not want to be a part of the team. She wanted to take her family, go home and reunite with her other family, and just…not have to deal with any world ending bullshit. With a sigh she put the earpiece in and fiddled with it figuring out how it worked.  
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Amongst the chaos Agent Hill was admirably remaining calm. “Turn up that engine! Number three engine is down! Can we get a run in?” Hill ran over to one of her minions, “Talk to me.” 

The agent responded quickly. “Turbine’s loose. Mostly intact, but it’s impossible to get out there and make repairs while we’re in the air.” 

“We lose one more engine, we won’t be. Somebody’s got to get inside and patch that engine.” She grabbed her ear and prompted, “Nick? You read me?”

Over the earpiece Darcy heard Fury say, “Stark! You copy that?!”

Tony’s voice crackled to life on the device. “I’ve got to check on Darcy first! Hill, she was with you is she--”

She put her hand to her ear and pressed the only button on the device. “Tony?” 

“Darcy! Are you okay?!” Tony questioned sounding relieved. 

“I’m fine.” She relayed, “I’m on the bridge with Steve and Zoran. Everyone’s aliv--” 

Fury’s commanding voice interrupted, “Stark! We don’t have an engine we all die. Your girlfriend included.” 

“I’m on it!” Tony responded quickly.

Darcy pressed the button again this time directing her words at Fury. “Fury, where’s Loki? Where are my children and Thor?” 

Steve brought over Zoran and Chip to join her at the main console with Maria. Not using the earpiece the Shield agent asked her, “You think this is Loki’s doing?” 

She didn’t answer instead choosing to wait for Fury’s reply. There was a pause before he said, “I don’t have eyes on anyone. The explosion sent us all flying in different directions.” 

There was a click in her ear before Tony’s strained voice said. “I could use some muscle at engine three.”

“Where’s Thor?” Darcy asked Hill, her mind instantly linking her husband and the word ‘muscle’ together. The serious woman frowned and didn’t reply; instead she fixed Steve with a pointed glare. 

Clenching his jaw, Steve put a hand on her lower back and kissed her cheek whispering, “Stay safe.” Then he was walking away from her and putting his hand to his ear. Over her own earpiece she heard him say, “Tony. I’m on my way.” 

Darcy watched him walk away, a feeling of dread building up inside her. Once Steve was out of sight and the door had shut behind him she turned looking to Hill for guidance. The woman was busy, one of her subordinate Shield agents waved her over gesturing to her computer monitor slightly panicked. 

“Mama?” Zoran looked so vulnerable and confused. It broke her heart when he asked, “What’s going on?” 

She didn’t know what to tell him. She looked back over to Hill and called out, what objectively was the most important question of all. “Where’s Loki?!”

Maria glared at her briefly before her eyes averted back to the screen she was looking at. “I don’t know.” She admitted grimly. “If he had been with Fury or Stark they would have said so.” 

Darcy looked down at her son; he was sucking his thumb and never looked younger in her eyes. She felt the overwhelming urge to whisk him away and protect him. But that wasn’t logical. She had neither the means nor the power to take him and make a break for it. And out of all her children, he really didn’t need the protection. 

Kneeling down in front of him she tried to smile bravely so he wouldn’t be so scared. “Baby.” She said as she stroked a hand down his cheek. By Thor’s side he would be of the most use, by hers it was a waste of one of their most powerful resources. “Go find daddy,” She took out the earpiece that Steve had given her and handed it over to her son. “Tell him to put this in his ear so he can hear me. He presses the button to talk.” 

Overhearing her instructions Maria chimed in saying, “You hold the Coms down for 3 seconds to keep the line open.”

She looked over her shoulder and found the stoic woman giving her a small encouraging nod which she returned. Turning back to her son she asked, “You got all that, honey?” 

“Give this to daddy,” Zoran repeated as he took his thumb out of his mouth and wiped it on his pants. “Press the button to talk. Hold it down for one, two, three seconds to keep it on forevers.”

Darcy nodded. “When you find him, I want you to stay with him. Okay? And while you’re with him keep an eye out for Alice and Tyr.” 

Zoran looked troubled at that. “But what about you?” 

She forced a confident smile. “I think it’d be faster if you ran around the ship to find them, but if you think I should do it instead…?”

Her son smiled laughing. “No, no, no, no!” He threw his arms around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze before backing away. “I’m the fastest one, mama.” He smiled at her with confidence and in that second he looked exactly like Thor. “Don’t worried. I got this.” 

A gust of wind hit her in the face as her son made his departure. Chip barked, and she still on her knees pulled the fury animal over and hugged him around the neck whispering to him but really trying to reassure herself. “He’s going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”  
.  
.  
.  
Darcy led Chip over to where Maria was and she turned to one of the Shield agents and tapped the guy on the shoulder. “Give me your Coms thingy.” She demanded.

“No.” The guy refused before turning back to his important button pushing. 

Maria’s commanding voice backed up her command. “Do it Agent Davis.” 

Darcy took the man’s Coms without remorse and put it in her ear. She looked over at Maria Hill searchingly. “Any word on Loki or my other children?”

Over the Coms Thor’s voice yelled, “DARCY, MY LOVE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

“Jesus.” Maria muttered, wincing at Thor’s lack of volume control. 

“I hear you. Are Tyr and Alice with you?” Darcy answered, switching the Com on permanently. 

A different voice answered her question in a whisper. “I have Banner and Alice a-- we have a situatio-”  
However before she could learn anything more a loud primal roar of rage rang out. Darcy heard it both over the Coms and with her ears, it was so loud and chilling a sound that for a second she froze. As if some lizard part of her brain knew a predator was close and she was in danger. And then the earpiece crackled to life as Natasha’s steely voice ordered, “Go!”

“Where is she!?” Darcy demanded, her question not really directed at any one person in particular. 

“Lower equipment room.” Another random Shield agent informed her, she ran over to the man and his computer monitor. He had a video feed up on the display. She all but shoved the guy out of his chair to get a better look at the gigantic Hulk chasing Natasha and Alice. Her daughter was like a shadow, when Natasha rolled under a turbine, Alice followed. When she sprinted, Alice sprinted. When they began crawling within the maze of pipes and the Hulk pulled them out from above the catwalk Darcy let out a strangled scream. The pair dropped out of frame of the camera. She had no idea if they lived or died. Her brain seized up, trying to process the idea that her daughter might be dead.

She was vaguely aware of Fury storming back onto the bridge and calling out orders, but her eyes were glued to the glossy screen in front of her. The Shield Agent tapped away cycling through various camera angles trying to get her a better view of the action. “Where are they!?” She demanded shrilly smacking the man on his shoulder. 

“I’m looking!” He said calmly, undeterred by her aggression. Next to her on the floor Chip began yapping at the man.

“That’s not helping either.” The man quipped. 

Fury appeared over her shoulder. “Romanoff?” 

“Facing off with the Hulk.” The Shield agent answered. “She’s got the teenager with her.” She and Fury exchanged a loaded glance. When the agent found the right camera angle he asserted so in the most mild mannered way. “Got them.” 

Darcy watched with her heart in her throat as Natasha put herself in front of Alice and pulled out a gun. The pair slowly walked out onto a catwalk. And then the Hulk was on top of them. Natasha didn’t flinch or freeze or flee. She fired her weapon at a pipe and some gas shot out and struck Hulk right in the face. 

She could see Natasha turn to her daughter and Alice shake her head in response, drawing her sword. She could imagine that Nat had just told her daughter to run and her stupid stubborn child refused. Darcy smacked Fury on the shoulder shouting futilely at the screen, “Are you fucking kidding me Alice! Run!” 

Hulk smashed the shit out of the pipe that had offended him giving Natasha time to grab Alice by the elbow and force her to run down a corridor with her. And then the feed cut out. Darcy slapped the random Shield agent’s shoulder again. “Bring it back!”

The man tapped at his keyboard furiously, before pausing and looking up at Fury. “Surveillance feed is down throughout the ship. Someone doesn’t want us to see what’s going on.”

Darcy felt the urge to run out of the room and go look for her children and assure herself of their safety. She fought that urge. She knew her abilities and limitations, to run out of the relative safety of the bridge would be reckless and stupid. Now was the time for cool heads to prevail. No matter how impotent she felt, she had to stay put. 

Fury tapped his earpiece. “Coulson, get to security and see if you can’t get the cameras back online.” 

“Coulson’s here?” Darcy asked, her eyes scanned the faces of the various Shield agents around her. “Is May here too?” 

“Agent May retired.” Fury told her with a frown. He moved over to where Hill was. “How are we looking?” 

“We got navigation back after the engine failure but we’re still losing altitude.” Hill reported the tension clear in her voice. “Nick, if we lose one more turbine we drop.”

“We still over the water?” He asked. Hill nodded her head affirmatively. 

Fury rubbed tiredly at the bridge between his eyes. “Well, at least we won’t take out any civilians when we crash.” 

Darcy tensed up at the word ‘crash’ and her mind went to Alice, Tyr, and Zoran. Her children were on this flying hunk of metal and she was suddenly very angry that she could do nothing to help in this dire situation. She trailed behind Fury and Maria Hill, hovering and trying to remain unobtrusive, but also informed. Chip pressed close to her legs, reminding her that she wasn’t completely alone. 

“Stark?” Fury questioned, “Status.”

Tony’s voice crackled in her ear. “I gotta get the super conducting cooling system back before I can access the rotors and free the turbine of debris.” 

“And how long will that take?” Fury pressed. 

“Depends,” Tony said in a serious voice. “Steve, what’s it look like in there?” 

Listening to Steve’s reply had her stomach sinking. “It seems to run on some form of electricity.” 

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Tony quipped. 

Hill grumbled under her breath, “Great.” 

And then they finally got some good news. Coulson’s voice called for attention over the Coms. “Sir?”

“Coulson?” Fury said quickly, “You fix my camera problem yet?” 

“No.” He informed them with just a hint of a smile in his voice. “I did find the so called ‘God of Mischief’ and ‘God of War’ wrestling on the floor though.”

“Tyr?!” Darcy exclaimed, overjoyed to finally have confirmation that her son was alive. “Where!?”

“What’s your position?” Fury demanded.

“Currently heading back to you, sir.” Coulson huffed, “Me and the kid are dragging the gimp but he’s not making it easy. Help would be appreciated.” 

Again the urge to bolt out the door and go help her children struck her. Knowing Loki had somehow gotten free and engaged her son in battle had her heart thundering in her chest. Fury pointed at two random agents. “You two. Go help Coulson bring in our prisoner.” 

“My prisoner.” Darcy corrected quietly.  
.  
.  
.  
A few moments later more good news came over the Coms. “Mommy?! Daddy’s fighting the monster!” The sound of Zoran’s excited voice almost made her cry in relief. She knew her daughter was strong, that she’d trained with Lady Sif and Odin, but seeing what she and Natasha had been up against in the Hulk, her faith in her daughters abilities waivered. The Hulk looked like an unstoppable monster and even though she knew inside he was still Bruce, the angry exterior made her forget that when it was her daughter he was focusing his rage on.

“Is Alice alright?” She demanded. 

“WOAH!” Zoran awed. “Mama! Mama! Daddy’s trying ta talk ta him---ooooh. And daddy just got puncheded in the face by the monster.” There was a lot of noise and Zoran was speed talking making understanding him even more difficult. “Igottahelphimokay?Byefornow.mama,loveyou.”

“FUCK!” Darcy exclaimed as her urge to leave and help reached an all time high. “I’ve got to get out there.” 

A strong grip on her elbow kept her from taking more than one step towards the door. Fury stared her down. “You can’t leave.”

“My family is in danger! I can’t stay here and listen to them--”

“Did you get powers while you were away? Can you shoot laser beams from your eyes or walk through walls or do basically anything useful to contribute to this situation besides die, motivating your loved ones to fight that much harder?” Fury’s words were harsh and she knew that needed to hear them, but that didn’t make them sting any less. 

She wilted. In a defeated voice she insisted, “I can help.” 

“Yes you can,” Fury agreed. “By staying here.” 

He let her arm go and the selfish part of her wanted to sprint away and do what she wanted. However, in becoming a mother she’d gained a lot of wisdom over the years. “Okay.” She nodded, defeated. “I hear you.” 

Just then, the doors to the bridge opened and Tyr backed in carrying something along the ground. His hands were wrapped tightly around Loki’s wrists, half carrying the snarling and angry god inside. At the other end Coulson had a tight grip on the man’s one foot. All three of them looked like they’d been in a back alley brawl.

“What happened?!” Darcy cried out as she ran over to the trio. Her son had scratches on his face and there were slashes in his pants. Darcy could see blood seeping out of what she prayed were shallow cuts, but otherwise he looked alright. Coulson however, looked more disheveled than she had ever seen him. Even worse than when he got shot saving her life on Halloween. 

“YOU STUPID COW!” Loki screamed, his eyes were murderous but one was swollen shut. He had a split lip and a knife embedded in his gut and one in his bicep. Seeing his various wounds had her attention his voice lowered and took on a menacing snarl. “You and your insolent allies will pay in blood and pain for the injustices I have suffered today. You mark my words, cow. YOU WILL ALL FEEL MY WRATH!”

“Oh, I think I’ve felt wrath-ier.” Coulson quipped. The first thing she noticed about him was his hair was in utter disarray. His tie was missing and there was a ring around his neck that suggested someone tried to choke him with it. There was a wound in his shoulder and his leg and a large slash across his forehead, but other than that he looked okay. He let Loki’s leg drop once the door closed behind them and he swiped at the wound on his head with the back of his hand commenting to her, “Somehow Loki got free of his bonds and got his hands on a knife. Kid and I finally subdued him but it was a struggle.” 

“Good job.” Fury complimented. 

Coulson frowned, “Also on a personal note, he bit me. And now I have to worry about space rabies.”

In a dark voice that matched Loki’s own ire, her son declared. “We should slit his throat and be done with it.” 

“No!” Darcy chastised a little alarmed at his tone. “We need him alive, remember. Your dad loves him--for some reason.” It was then that she realized Fury was right behind her and it was him that Coulson was probably reporting to. Not her.

Loki kicked out and caught Coulson in the shin making the man wince. “Ow.”

“His our enemy and we should not leave him alive to sow more chaos.” Tyr insisted. “I can make it quick.” 

“TRY IT BOY!” Loki hollered as he began to kick out with his leg and twist and turn trying to free himself from Tyr’s grip.

Coulson looked over at her son. “If we still need him alive how about unconscious and not so talkative for a while?” Tyr smiled at the agent conspiratorially. 

Without preamble he let Loki’s upper half drop to the floor with a thud and then struck out like a cobra, punching his uncle in the face so hard that he was rendered unconscious. Sounding more like her than he ever had, Tyr sardonically declared, “Yes, I agree. This is better.” 

“He talks a lot. Right?” Coulson said, addressing her son. Tyr nodded in agreement. 

Fury looked at the pair with a slightly unnerved expression. “Restrain him.” He ordered then walked back over to Hill. 

“Yes sir.” Coulson replied dutifully at his bosses back. He then turned to Tyr and looked at him searchingly, “Any ideas, kid?”

Tyr’s smile was all mischief as he said. “Several.” 

“Where are the cuffs we brought with us?” Darcy asked, a little weird-ed out by how chummy her son and agent Coulson seemed, but she assumed they’d bonded during the ‘battle’ to capture Loki. Her son as the God of War had a real knack for endearing himself to soldier types. Especially the obedient ones. 

“He hid them or destroyed them, I don’t know.” Tyr informed her as Coulson walked off only to return with a zip tie. “He was free when I found him trying to escape.” 

Darcy gave the agent a flat look, “That won’t hold him.” 

Coulson’s shoulders deflated. “I know, but we don’t have a lot of options.” 

Without a word to either of them Tyr went down on his knee and flipped Loki over, he moved to put Loki’s wrists together behind his back and held his hand out for Coulson’s pitiful restraints. The agent handed them over and together they watched as her son bound the God of Mischief’s hands with plastic.

Tyr stayed on his knee and removed his cloak then manifested a dagger into his hand by magic. 

Darcy gaped at the show of his godly power. This was new. “TYR? You got your powers?!...and it’s weapon..conjuring?”

“Manifestation.” Tyr corrected with a smirk as he cut his cloak into strips and began tying Loki’s arm together at the bicep and elbow. 

Unlike Zoran, Tyr did not have an obvious power as the God of War. And for that Darcy had always been kind of grateful. When he was still a babe she’d feared that his powers would be something insidious like emotional manipulation, like Ares from Xena, and his path would be one of inciting violence and animosity wherever he went. So to see him pull a dagger out of thin air like it was a rabbit out of a hat was preferable. And cool as hell. “Amazing.” She leaned forward and kissed the top of his head. “I’m proud of you.” 

Tyr looked up at her and smiled and it was so joyful that she couldn’t remember the last time he’s looked so young and carefree. With a tug to the knot he was tying he confessed to her, “I can’t wait to tell dad.” 

She’d always suspected Tyr was too hard on himself in general, but when Zoran was born and he started showing signs of speed powers before leaving diapers, Tyr grew even more somber. She knew it bothered him that as the ‘God of War’ he had only been able to pick up weapons and innately know how to use them. He considered it a suck power and secretly so did Thor. It’s why he argued so hard for her to let Tyr train for battle at a young age. 

Thor apparently had shown his lightning abilities early on too. Which, had just been another burden of expectation and pressure upon Tyr’s young shoulders. In response, she’d always made a point of telling him how proud of him she was already, of letting him know she’d love him godly powers or no powers.  
However, Odin maintained that Tyr would come into more offensive abilities once he got a taste of true battle. And that had given him hope. And to see that hope come to fruition now, she was so unbelievably happy for her son. 

And a smidge afraid of how it might change him.

“Mother, look!” Tyr finished restraining Loki as best he could and got to his feet holding out his hands. A long broad sword appeared in his left one. “And it’s not just limited to Asgardian weaponry.” He boasted. A pistol formed in his right hand. “It is just like the one Son of Coul brandished during our fight with Loki.” 

“Hey,” Coulson interrupted as he bent down to grab Loki’s leg again. “Let’s bring him in further to the room, we don’t want to block the door and accidentally trip someone.” 

Tyr nodded and the weapons he’d created out of nothing, disappeared. Darcy blinked at the magic but quickly moved out of the male’s way as they carried Loki past her. They crossed paths with Maria as the woman made to leave and Darcy, having warmed up to the woman and her unflappable ways, asked, “Hey Hill, where are you going?” 

“Lower hanger bay to facilitate an evacuate—“ Something slid across the floor between them. Maria shouted, “GRENADE!” 

The female agent tackled her to the floor as an explosion sent them flying across the room and down the platform steps to the computers area. When she opened her eyes she saw Fury firing at the open entrance, but Darcy couldn’t see who he was shooting at from her position on the floor. 

She could hear panic waging war with anger in Tyr’s voice as he screamed out for her. “MOTHER?!” 

“Stay down.” Maria ordered as she got to her feet and pulled out her weapon to join the assault. Bullets were flying everywhere, Darcy did as she was told and laid on the ground. Safe. And out of way.  
.  
.  
.  
The gunfire made the Bridge unbearably loud. Chip, untouched by the mayhem all around them, found his way back to Darcy’s side and while covering her ears with her hands she pressed her face into his fur and curled her body around the animal. 

She let out a startled cry as the ship lurched and there was a big boom from what felt like just under their feet. And then she saw Mjolnir flying overhead. Darcy sat up to track its movement with her eyes, crawling closer to where Hill was as she did so. She watched as Mjolnir stopped just short of busting out the roof before it returned in a downward arc and instead, created a hole in the floor. 

A guttural growl from down below was so bone chilling and loud that it was heard by everyone. And for just a second the gunfire stopped. And they listened. Waiting…expecting something---The floor exploded right in front of the door and the Hulk emerged, crawling and snarling at everyone in sight. 

The Shield agents and the invaders all turned their weapons on the monster. “Fuck.” Hill cursed as she adjusted her stance. “Just what we need.” 

Hulk set about smashing people into walls and picking them up and just chucking them across the room. He looked so angry it was clear to her that he had no target in particular and thought of them all as the enemy. Next to her she heard Chip whimper and then felt something wet on her leg. Looking down she expected to find herself shot or something, unaware of the pain due to some adrenaline bullshit, but no. Chip had peed on the floor in his fear of the gigantic creature. 

Not thinking Darcy stood up to avoid sitting in urine, a chair went flying past her face, a hairs breath away from taking her down. She watched with wide eyes as Thor flew up to join them, using the same hole as Hulk had. He struck out with his hammer, obviously aiming to take the beast on by himself. 

The invaders took the opportunity provided by her husband’s heroic actions and refocused their gunfire on the Shield agents. It was then that Maria seemed to notice her standing almost shoulder to shoulder with her. “I told you to stay down!” 

“Too bad!” She shouted back, wincing as Thor got punched in the face by the Hulk.

“MOTHER!” Tyr shouted as he finally caught sight of her. He looked relieved and Darcy spared him a wave before turning her eyes back to Hulk and Thor grappling for dominance. 

Fury called out to Maria as more invaders entered, skittering around the God/Monster fight to trade gunfire with the Shield agents. “They are not getting through here, so what the hell…?”

A gust of wind blew past Darcy and Maria, and then there was another explosion, but this time it came from the Hulk’s pants? 

Thor was blown back and landed hard against the glass at the back of the room, cracking it. He slumped to the floor and didn’t get back up making her worry he was seriously injured. However, Hulk only roared in pain and began banging on the ships walls, stealing her attention from her injured husband. The explosion clearly did nothing to truly injury the beast, only enrage it further. 

When a small hand slotted into hers, she looked down and wasn’t surprised to find Zoran. He grinned at her excitedly, “I putted the explode-y arrow into the monsters shorts!” Then he giggled, picked up Chip and said, “I’mgonnatakeChippysomewheresafebecauseit’stooloudandviolenthere.” And then he was gone. 

Darcy didn’t even really have time to process all that had happened before her other son was doing something dumb and reckless. Tyr let out a mighty war cry from the other side of the room and charged towards the Hulk with his sword raised high and a pistol held tightly in his other hand. There was no fear or hesitation on her son’s face. And all she could think is ‘he’s going to get himself killed’.

This time when the urge to do something hit her, she didn’t ignore it or push it down or reason it away. She picked up her feet and moved.  
.  
.  
.  
Hulk growled and snarled as Tyr shot at him but the bullets weren’t wounding him, they were annoying him. Darcy ran up the small steps and moved to interfere before her son could make contact with the out of control monster. 

She attempted to tackle her son to the ground as Maria had done to her, but instinct had Tyr lashing out at her blindly. He brought the hilt of his sword hand down on her back once she got her arms around his middle. Struck with the blunt handle by her super strong son, Darcy fell to the floor flat on her face at his feet. “Mother!” 

Sensing weakness Hulk strode toward them. She couldn’t let him hurt her baby. 

Darcy scrambled to get to her feet, she put her hand on Tyr’s gun and made him lower it or else he would shoot her. “Mother! What are you doing?” She didn’t stop to tell Tyr she was acting on instinct and had no idea what she was doing. She just did.

Putting her body in front of Tyr’s smaller one she held out her arms, creating a human shield and blocking his attempts to move forward and engage with the beast. Terrified, and honestly not too far off from peeing herself, she met Hulk’s enraged gaze with her own determined one. She expected to be tossed aside like a rag doll. She expected to die with her son, defending him as a mother should. After all, they said the Hulk was nothing but a mindless monster. 

But, at her action Hulk’s steps faltered. 

In the green monsters eyes she saw hesitation. And she seized the opportunity to prey upon it, to reach the man within the beast. 

“BRUCE BANNER I WILL NOT LET YOU KILL MY SON!” She screamed. The fear and the heightened emotional state she was in caused tears to well up in her eyes, but she paid them no mind. 

The gunfire stopped. The air was rife with tension and it seemed all eyes were on her and the monster and their standoff.

“Mother! You can’t—let me—Mom!” Behind her Tyr made futile efforts to get around her but she kept him back and behind her. Safe.

Things she knew about Bruce, things she had learned about him during their brief encounter amidst the Citizen’s Duty process, came to the forefront of her mind. Things she learned while reviewing old Shield files with Clint and Tony back when they were in the thick of the search for Hydra within Shield/Wanda/Bucky. All her faint memories of taking psychology 101. Darcy gathered her thoughts like they were weapons and came up with a game plan. 

She would have to use everything at her disposal to fight the Hulk the only way she could, with words. 

Thinking of her babies dying in the chaos brought forth tears and she welcomed them, knowing the display of vulnerability would clash with the monsters idea of an aggressive enemy trying to harm him. She put one hand on her stomach protectively, it was only slightly rounded due to the earliness of the pregnancy, but Hulk’s eyes tracked the movement and she saw something like recognition flicker across his face. 

She felt the moment ripe and so she took a step forward. To her great surprise, Hulk took one back. 

A shot rang out and she flinched. And the Hulk growled but didn’t move to attack. The bullet hadn’t been meant for him. 

One of the invaders slumped to the floor and Darcy spared a glance over her shoulder. It wasn’t obvious who had fired, Hill or Fury, but she glared at them both. Then while she was watching Hill fired her weapon and Hulk growled in response but not in pain. She heard the thud of another body hitting the ground. Fury gave her an encouraging look. 

“Keep talking.” He said in a small voice. Darcy turned back to see there were no more invaders alive on the bridge. 

Her eyes went to the green goliath looming above her. “Do you remember I’m pregnant? That this boy, Tyr, he’s my son?” She took another step closer to Hulk and felt Tyr at her heels shadowing the movement. “Are you a child killer Doctor Banner? Is that who you are? Hulk? Are you a murderer of children and pregnant women?”

Her words were as effective as blows from a mighty fist. Hulk looked unsure. 

“You keep raging and you’ll tear the ship apart.” She used a soft and gentle voice as she took another step forward. “This ship breaks; we fall, crash, and die.” She paused for dramatic effect and put a hand over her heart for emphasis, “I die.”

She was close enough to reach out and touch the Hulk’s arm. So she did. “I’m a mortal woman, big guy.” She reminded him as she gently stroked her hand up and down his forearm. “I’m fragile and weak and powerless. Basically everything you’re not.”

Hulk audibly gulped as she stopped moving her hand and stared up at his face. She wasn’t sure what she should say next. Reiterate how she would do anything to save her children, no matter how futile her efforts were. Try to reassure him that they weren’t out to hurt him. Or perhaps remind him that it was Loki who had set all of this into motion, impress upon him that they were not his enemy. However, in the next minute it proved that no more words were needed. 

The Hulk began to shrink and it looked hella painful, so Darcy held onto his arm and tried to help him grit and bear it. The monster’s body contracted getting smaller and smaller, and paler and paler, until the Hulk was no more. And Bruce Banner stood before her. 

The room was silent as a wide eyed Bruce took in the destruction all around. When his gaze came back to her he looked contrite and started apologizing. “I’m sorry Darcy, I—did I hurt you? Your baby--?”

She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. “Breathe doc. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” 

“Is this how you define ‘fine’ on Asgard?” Fury muttered from behind her. 

She turned and was ready to make a quip, but Tyr’s devastated expression stole the words from her lips. He was shaking and looked angry and sad all at once. “Hey,” She reached out to cup his cheek but he flinched and pushed her away. She stumbled back into Bruce’s chest, not expecting her son’s rejection. 

“Hey!” Bruce said darkly, “Don’t push your mom.” 

“You could have died!” Tyr shouted. “How could you do that!?” He raised his sword hand as if it was evidence, “I got my power! FINALLY, after all this time! I could have taken the monster on myself! I could have saved you. I didn’t need you to intervene! That was stupid and reckless and--” 

“Boy!” Thor, who’d obviously just woken from being knocked unconscious, struggled to get to his feet from the other side of the room. “Take care of how you speak to your lady mother.” 

“SHE FOUGHT THE MONSTER BY HERSELF!” Tyr shrieked. “AND YOU MISSED IT!” 

Behind her Bruce stiffened. She moved to his side to put a hand on his back, a silent show of support. She argued. “The Hulk is not a monster.”

“Uh, yeah he is.” Bruce muttered, his cheeks going pink. 

Tyr whipped his head around to gape at her. “HE WAS GREEN AND AS BIG AS A HOUSE AND COULD HAVE TORN YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!” 

She pointed at her son and used her mom voice. “Stop shouting. Now.” 

Tyr let his sword disappear and ran both hands through his hair yanking at the strands in a painful way. “You could have died for me and it would have been all my fault.” His words were filled with guilt and despair and she ached for the responsibility he needlessly put upon himself. “Alice and Zoran and dad, no one would forgive me, _I_ would never have forgiven me.” 

She took a few quick steps and wrapped her arms around her son and he collapsed against her, clung to her, and though he made no noise, he cried. She pet his hair and watched Thor as he made his way towards them, he looked a little disheveled but no worse for wear. She pressed a kiss into Tyr’s short cropped blonde hair. 

In a soft voice she told him, “I would have died for you, yes. But that would not be your fault. And it would not have been in vain if it meant you got to live.”

“But--”

“I would die for all my children, Tyr. You are a piece of me and I love you like no other—no other person or thing or---. I live to be your mother, do you understand? And I would jump in front of a train for you. Face off against an angry monster. Or even be polite to Grandma. For you.” 

Her joke got her nothing but a heaving sigh from the boy in her arms. She looked for help from her husband as he said nothing and joined her, wrapping both she and Tyr up in his arms. 

Outside their group hug Fury talked to Tony over the Coms about the engine, Hill started issuing commands to the underlings, and Bruce mumbled something about pants before escaping the room all together. And then from the floor Loki screamed out, “HOW DOES THAT FUCKING COW KEEP FOILING MY PLANS!?”

Darcy didn’t even turn to look at the enraged face he was probably making.

“Shut up Loki!” Thor called back to his brother as he snuggled closer to the two of them. “You are ruining the moment.”  
.  
.  
.  
They reconvened with everyone to assess the damage done and their next move. The Shield minions had swept the ship and the only Loki-mind-controlled-henchmen left on the helicarrier were dead ones. And Clint.

Natasha and Alice had subdued Barton and he was now knocked out and laid up in medical. The redhead opted out of attending the meeting and was instead staying with her former partner until he woke up. Which, Darcy thought was nice.

Zoran when he left her last, took Chip to the safe place of the ‘robot man’ who he thought could fly the dog to safety. Instead he ended up assisting in the engine repair making the process go faster and more efficiently. Steve and Tony then escorted them back to the bridge. 

Learning Darcy had talked down the Hulk, Tony made a quip about beauty slaying the beast and she had thrown a cup at his head. 

In her opinion treating the Hulk like he was a beast was half the reason he attacked with such ferocity. She suspected the same principal applied to Loki. However, her intervention proved that at least a small part of the man remained when the Hulk took over control. Just as with Loki, in the throes of his madness, had allowed her safe passage into Asgard, just because she was weak and with child.

When Bruce rejoined the group he was quiet and withdrawn and she could tell he, like Tyr, would carry the weight of responsibility on his shoulders no matter what they said to absolve him. She smiled at him and tried to get him to sit next to her, but he remained standing and apart from the assembled group at the broken table. 

“So what do we do next?” Coulson asked, he was sitting at the table next to her daughter and no one seemed to have an answer for his question. Though his posture and manner didn’t change one bit despite the evidence his appearance suggested, Coulson looked haggard and like he’d been put through the ringer.

She could only imagine how the rest of them were holding up after all the excitement. 

Alice looked ready to drop, but determined to keep going. Fury and Hill looked equal parts irritated and tired. Steve looked agitated but ready to spring into action; he was sitting next to Loki who was wedged in between him and Thor. Loki being once again gagged and bound in magical handcuffs that Zoran had retrieved after a super speed aided scavenger hunt. 

Thor looked resolved and solemn, he knew everything that had occurred was due to Loki and thus felt a great sense of responsibility for the death and destruction all around them. Darcy sighed internally, _like father, like son_. Tyr stood tensely behind Loki’s chair, the look on his face spoke of his desire to kill his uncle and end all the uncertainty. Darcy could understand the urge, but knew there was a better path forward. She had no forgotten her hunch and theories about someone controlling Loki and pointing him at the Earth for as of yet to be uncovered reasons. 

Finally she looked at Tony. He had Zoran on his lap and Chip in the child’s lap; he was a little sweaty but otherwise as whole and unharmed as her youngest child and pet were. Tony was petting the dog and her son’s back in tandem, nodding along with whatever Zoran was saying but not really talking a lot himself. Her son’s eager excitement at recounting events was hurried and whispered, and probably a little annoying, but Tony just sat there soothing boy and beast alike. 

When Tony caught her gaze and mouthed the words ‘I love you’. She answered out loud. “I love you too Tony.” His answering grin was cocky. 

He elbowed her kid and gestured to her with his head. “Did you hear that? She loves me.” 

Zoran rolled his eyes at his antics. “Mommy loves everybodies. That’s not a big deals.” He waved his hand vaguely in Bruce’s direction. “Even the monster is no match for the superpowers of mommies heart.” 

Next to her Thor snorted. Then he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her chair closer to his own. “Well said young Zoran.” 

Thor kissed her on the temple and rested his cheek against her head. His next words were directed at Fury, though he did not change his relaxed posture. “Have you discovered the location of the Tesseract? I assume your computer finished its divining?” 

“The lab is trashed.” Bruce said quietly, “The computer’s search was interrupted in the—uh—commotion.” 

“So what now?” Steve asked sarcastically, “We go block by block looking under rocks?”

“Wouldn’t be under a rock.” Alice muttered as she folded her arms and rested her head on them. “Duh.”

“Actually,” Darcy said pointing at Steve, “That’s not a bad idea.” 

“You can’t be serious.” Fury scoffed. 

She frowned at him. “All those who went toe to toe with the Hulk, raise your hand.” She, Thor, and Alice raised their hands. “All those who didn’t, stuff it.” 

Tony and Zoran snickered and she allowed herself a smile of satisfaction at Fury’s displeased squinting. “You want us to do a street by street search for the most powerful weapon on Earth in one of the most densely populated cities, and what? Hope we find it before Loki’s thralls activate it and bring an alien army down on our heads?” 

“Thralls?” Tony snorted earning himself a glare from the dark skinned man. 

“You?” Darcy waved her hand Fury dismissively. “No. You’re old and slow.” 

Her eyes slid over to Tony and Zoran. Her son caught on quick. In an instant he had moved Chip into Coulson’s lap and jumped up onto the table. Raising his hand as if to be called on he hopped up and down making ‘pick me’ noises. “I’m not old and slow.” He declared when no one called upon him to speak. “I’m a kid and fast!” 

“You’re a genius.” Bruce muttered with a small smile in her direction. 

“We know the Tesseract is in New York City,” Darcy said leadingly, “Which is an island.”

Perking up a little and following her logic, Alice said. “Zoran could perform a thorough systematic grid search faster than these guys could wipe their asses after taking a shit!” 

“Do you have to be so crass?” Tyr asked with an embarrassed expression. 

Ignoring her brother Alice smiled at her with appreciation. “Mom! That’s brilliant!” 

“You want me to put the fate of the world in the hands of a five year old?” Fury questioned. 

“While I’ll admit Zoran’s hands are usually sticky—he sneaks sweets, they are just as capable as yours.” She told Fury with a smirk. “Maybe even more so.” 

“This is insane.” Maria muttered under her breath. 

“This is war.” Tyr told her darkly. His tone made her question how her son was handling all this, emotionally speaking. It had been quite a day…

“This is how we win without _having_ to fight a war.” She insisted. Darcy took umbrage with the idea that her ideas were insanity or that the conflict couldn’t be resolved peacefully. Hadn’t she proven the power of words by dealing the Hulk? And she wouldn’t have suggested trusting Zoran if he couldn’t handle the responsibility. It’s not as if she expected him to take out Loki’s ‘thralls’ by himself. Just find Loki’s minions and the Tesseract and then call for back up. He was five, not stupid.

“So we have a plan?” Coulson said looking to Fury.

The director stared at her son and Zoran stared back. “I can do it!” He said enthusiastically. When Fury’s expression didn’t change, her son’s demeanor did. He stopped bouncing with infinite energy and he clasped his hands behind his back. In a voice she’d didn’t recognize, one that was full of maturity and wisdom, Zoran said, “Sir. I swears I can find the Tesseract before they opens up a portal. I promise.”

Fury’s eye slid over to her. “And you’re okay with sending your youngest child into battle?” It was such a loaded question and she felt a little taken aback by it. 

Tony diffused the tension handily by exclaiming, “Oh don’t be so dramatic Fury! It’s recon at best. Kid’ll be fine.” 

Then Thor chimed in. “Zoran is my son and a demi-god. He will not treat responsibility as folly.” 

Darcy met Fury’s eye and nodded. “I believe in my children and what their capable of Mr. Fury. You would do well to listen when gods and geniuses agree.” 

There was a slight smile—no, it was more like a twinkle in his eyes that suggested a smile, as Fury declared. “Well, alright then.” Turning to Hill he said, “Let’s get the kid back on the ground.” 

“Yes, sir.”  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I am thinking we are going to avoid the Chitauri invasion, due to the characters being smart and awesome and having a speedster among their ranks. Because, the only real obstacle left without Loki in play, to the good guys getting the Tesseract, was finding them and where they plan to open the portal.  
> So....I hope you cool with that, cuz I kind of want to reunite Darcy's WHOLE family and dive into the emotional conflict that comes with "we have the tesseract and Loki, now what?"
> 
> Also if you know anything about Hulk comics lore, Bruce was abused by his dad when he was a kid, so Darcy stepping up to defend her son? That hit Hulk in the feels.


	14. Chapter 14 - Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of Loki's scheme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter this week (sorry) but I figured this was better than nothing and almost feels like an ending?   
> But it's not. (I dabbled with ending the story here but thought there might be outrage especially after outlining all the things we have yet to reckon with)

Chapter 14 - Aftermath

Everyone who had not been living on Asgard for the past fifteen years was surprised by how quickly the whole ‘alien invasion’ thing was wrapped up once they got Zoran on the ground. Within three minutes and seventeen seconds he located the Tesseract on top of Stark Tower. Which was rather fortunate as Darcy informed everyone she had commandeered Steve’s phone earlier and already sent Matt Murdoch and Jessica Jones to that location for possible back-up-fighting-aliens purposes. 

With Darcy’s blessing and Fury’s objections, Zoran enlisted the pair of NYC natives to help him on the second part of his mission. Subduing the remains of Loki’s thralls and getting the Tesseract before it could be activated into opening a portal over the city. She was told it was rather easy with Jessica’s strength, her son’s speed, and Matt’s ninja skills. All in all the effort took about six minutes before they were on their way back to the helicarrier. 

After the action she was told Jessica said to tell her ‘Welcome back to Earth’ but ultimately the woman chose not to stick around. She wasn’t offended, she knew Jessica had her issues and she couldn’t really blame her for not wanting to escort Zoran back into the hands of the shady government types. And she really didn’t have to what with Matt being willing to do so. 

When the pair of conquering heroes arrived Darcy was surprised to see Matt wearing a red leather costume. Tony and the other earth bound people were not. They referred to him as ‘Daredevil’ and not Matt, even though they all knew who he was. 

She didn’t get a lot of time to interact with her long lost friend though, he just passed Jessica’s message along, gave her a hug, and told her to call him when she had some free time so they could catch up and she could explain “What the fuck did I just help with, who this tiny child is, why he kept calling me a ‘mortal’, and how he got his superpowers”. She agreed and Matt left as inconspicuously as he had arrived. 

When Zoran handed over the Tesseract to Thor, Tyr told him to go get Loki’s scepter from the other room and then go and hide it where no human on Earth could ever find it. This of course, enraged Fury, but Darcy and Thor ultimately agreed with her son’s quick assessment. Humans had already proven adept at mind manipulation and memory alteration, Hydra and Bucky proved that, there was no reason to hand over a powerful weapon to ANYONE which would make the process of destroying people’s minds, that much easier. 

Fury was unable to stop them and so the scepter was lost. However, as long as Zoran knew where it was they could always retrieve it if they had need of it in the future.

Darcy was of the mind that everyone was secretly disappointed that the day didn’t end in an epic battle with flying alien space whales. She also didn’t give a fuck. She was a big believer in brains over brawn, mostly because she lacked the brawn, but also because she sometimes thought those with offensive abilities never considered other ways to end conflicts. She definitely caught Thor pouting a little when Zoran returned with the Tesseract held high above his head. And she was sure Alice lamented the chance to show off her warrior skills. Loki was probably the most disappointed though. She’d foiled his evil plans and saved the day, all without killing one person. Not even him.

She would admit there was no rousing moment of victory where they all cheered at the villains defeat. No one clapped or hugged or threw a party like at the battle of Endor. In the end, the people who had helped saved the earth from invasion just sat around and looked at each other and then Fury smiled at her son and said, “Good job.” 

And then they set about making arrangements to send Thor and Loki home with the Tesseract.   
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“You better come back before the new baby is born or I’m naming her Mildred Bubbles Thorsforgottendottir.” Darcy threatened. She had both arms and legs wrapped around Thor and felt the urge to remain attached to him like a barnacle, squeezing her arms a little tighter she said, “You hear me mister?”

Thor squeezed her back with as much strength as she could stand. “I will return in time, my love. I will see you through our child’s birth like I have all the others.”

Saying goodbye to her husband had her gut tied up in knots and she really didn’t want to let him go. With a sigh she rested her cheek on his shoulder and just held on. She had her eyes closed tightly but she could hear the others in the background. 

Steve and Bruce were whispering about something she couldn’t make out, Tony was on the phone with Jarvis ordering food and clothes to be delivered…somewhere. Clint and Natasha were taking in hushed tones about what Loki’s punishment back on Asgard would be. And Alice and Tyr were doing their best to calm down Zoran. Thor had said goodbye to the children first. 

Alice and Tyr had kept their composure but Zoran was beside himself. Darcy had offered to let him go with Thor, even though the thought of that broke her heart. However, he didn’t want to leave her or his siblings, he didn’t want his father to leave _them_. He wanted them all to stay together and couldn’t understand why they couldn’t. Darcy squeezed her eyes tighter as the sound of her youngest son in pain made more tears leak from her eyes. Alice was comforting him though and she felt a stab of pride for how grown up her little girl had become.

“I love you.” Thor said quietly.

“Duh.” She whimpered as sucked back some snot. She hadn’t stopped crying since they got to the clearing in Central Park where Loki and he were going to use the Tesseract to travel back to Asgard. One would imagine she would eventually reach a threshold and run out of tears, but they just kept coming.

“I will be gone for a few weeks at most.” He reminded her, his voice betrayed his emotions. Leaving her on Earth, pregnant, and in the hands of men she loved, their separation wasn’t as easy for him as he would have them all believe. “And to you, it will feel even shorter.” 

Darcy turned her face to rest her other cheek on his shoulder so now she was facing his neck instead of away from it. Reaching up she snagged the end of his hair and twirled it around her finger. Thor took a few more steps away from the others. “We haven’t been apart for more than a night in ten years.” She told him in a quiet voice. “I don’t know how to be—what am I going to do without you?” 

“You will be strong. You will endure. You will thrive.” 

She pressed her face into the skin of his neck and breathed in. “I don’t want to be strong all the time. I—that’s what I have you for!” 

Thor chuckled and his hand rubbed a soothing circle on her back. “And here I was thinking the same thing my love.” 

Tears kept flowing, silently and unendingly. “I hate this.” She confessed. “This is bullshit. We shouldn’t—I wish…”

“I know.” Thor said, he didn’t need her to finish her sentence to know what she was trying to say. “I also find this painful. And unfair. But it is my duty to see my brother home to face judgment.” 

“I love you.” She pressed a kiss to his neck and pulled back until she could see his face. “Oh!” She exclaimed when she saw that Thor was also crying. “Oh, honey.”

Rushing forward she kissed him to comfort him but quickly pulled back so she could wipe away his tears. The sight of his pain made her own tears flow increase in intensity. “Don’t cry!” She quietly chastised. Leaning in she kissed him again, this time less hurried. 

His lips were warms and his face was wet but so was hers. Kissing him now that she remembered everything, Tony and Steve and how she felt about them, she thought it might change how it felt to be with Thor but it was exactly the same. She loved him just as much now as she ever had, maybe a little more so. “I love you.” She promised as the kiss intensified. 

“I love you.” He answered in kind.

“I love you.” She repeated as he pressed his lips against hers harder. 

When they parted she was slightly panting and he looked so sad. She stared into his blue eyes searchingly. She understood the pain of parting from him, but there was something else…

”Tell me.” She demanded as she cupped his cheek and stroked his jaw with her thumb.

“Do not forget me.” He pled. She opened her mouth to declare that thought an impossibility, but he kissed her again robbing her of the opportunity. 

He kissed her sweetly and softly. With feather light lips and a gentleness most did not expect from someone of his build, he cradled her head in his hands and poured all his love for her into the kiss. He’d been so strong and sure and such a source of compassion and confidence for her, she’d almost forgotten he was human too (in the metaphorical sense anyway.)

Thor had flaws. He was afraid, he had insecurities and bad habits, he felt pain and disappointment, secrets, regrets. He was like anyone else. Human. He was just better at pretending than he didn’t feel those things. That he was above those things. However, she knew better. She knew Thor very well. She loved him very much. He wasn’t jealous of her other lovers. Other children. Other home world. He was just worried about fitting into her life when he got back. 

“Honey. Thor. You are my husband. I married you for a reason. I want to be with you until my dying day. You are my best friend. My partner in crime. My lover. The father of my children. Unless someone does some magical bullshit, I will not forget you.” That earned her a chuckle and she pressed a victory kiss to the end of his nose. “Being separated from you will be a hardship not just because of the numerous thing I rely on you for, but because I love you. Because without you I am incomplete. You are a part of me. And you always will be.” 

A few more tears escaped Thor’s eyes and she pressed a comforting kiss to his lips, then hugged him. Tightening her arms and legs around his body, she hugged Thor and hopefully fortified him in some small way. 

She resumed twirling the end of his hair around her finger and pressed her face into his shoulder, relaxing into his arms. He needed some time to pull himself together and she was more than happy to give him that.

After a few minutes, he pressed a kiss into the juncture between neck and shoulder, and then threaded his fingers into her hair enough to tilt her head back. He stared at her in the eyes and she was relieved to see his face tear free. “While I am away, do not hold back on my account. Rekindle your romances or create a new relationships from the ashes. Know, I will never judge you for loving someone else. I will never resent you for needing someone or something beyond myself and what I can provide.”

“Thor--” She tried to interrupt. 

“Shhh.” He silenced her with a kiss and then continued speaking. “Our love was a gift. You are a gift. I am grateful to know you. To love you and be loved by you in return. Nothing will change how I feel, about you, our children, our life. Nothing will change what I want.”

Just for clarifications sake she had to ask, “And what do you want?” 

“To live a life on Earth, with you and our family.” He looked at the group gathered over his shoulder adding, “I only hope they feel the same.” 

She pulled his attention back to her with a gentle hand on his cheek. Bringing his eyes back to hers she gave him an encouraging smile. “I want that too.” 

She wasn’t an idiot though. The Bucky drama. The Steve and Tony friction. Blending together families which were not only raised on different planets but were in fact different species? Bringing her worlds together into one big harmonious happy family was not going to be an easy task. It was going to take a lot of time and work and even if there was plenty of love between them all, even if they made a valiant effort, things still might not work out the way she hoped.

Thor wasn’t a jealous man, but Tony was. Steve was in love with Bucky now. Bucky was recovering from a seventy year stint as a POW where he was compelled to commit atrocities. Wanda was still missing. She hadn’t heard one word about Scott beyond that he was alive. Hydra still existed and the obtrusive press. There was a hunk of metal lodged in Tony’s chest. And not only was Steve running around as Captain America again, but Tony built himself a fancy suit of armor and had decided to join him in the super heroics field. They had more enemies now than before. Frigga. Hydra. Odin. Loki. Whoever sent Loki to Earth with the scepter in the first place…

All the men she loved were warriors. Her children looked to be going down the same path. The happy normal life she dreamed of when she first got pregnant was doomed from the start and now that she’d gone to toe with the God of Mischief it seemed even more impossible that her tale would end in ‘happily ever after’. There were things and people out in the universe that were conspiring against them, she had a feeling more adversity was on the way. _And yet,…_

“Tell me.” Thor demanded, reading her as easily as she read him. 

“I never thought I’d fall in love with more than one man. Give birth to demi-gods. Cut off someone’s leg, let alone my brother in laws.” She didn’t know how to put into words all that was on her mind, and so she paused. Staring off into the distance as she gathered her thoughts. 

Thor allowed her a few seconds before prompting, “And?” 

“And my life could be viewed as a tragedy. Or a soap opera. Horrible things have happened to me. To the people I love. And even more horrible things are probably on the horizon, and yet I have hope.” She dragged her eyes back to meet Thor’s. “I am filled with optimism but I think I have reasonable expectations tempered by experience. And that makes me think I can have it all. Compromise nothing and no one, but instead integrate additions and surprises as they come…I know there will be challenges, there always are. But,…” She didn’t know what more to say without repeating herself so she let her words trail off. 

“You will make it happen.” Thor said confidently, his swagger returning to him as he bent down and met her lips for a simple kiss. 

She tried to let his faith in her fill her up with conviction as she repeated his words. “I will make it happen.” 

“For the both of us.” He added with another kiss. Her eyes strayed to the group over his shoulder. Tony was watching them like a hawk, as was Natasha and Loki. Steve and Bruce were now in the group with her children. Bruce seemed to be amusing her eldest as he tentatively pet Cheshire the Pegasus while Steve crouched on the floor with Zoran and Chip. 

“For all of us.” She whispered as she let her eyes fall shut. She gave herself over to the kiss, her last kiss with Thor until he returned from his journey back to Asgard. She had faith that he would come back ot her. She believed there was a path forward for all of them. And with or without Thor by her side, she would fight like hell for the future she wanted to come true.   
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Thor and Loki were gone in a flash of color and power. 

She and Zoran collapsed to the ground hugging each other and crying.

No one seemed to know what to do next.

After a while, they retreated back to the Tower.   
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Tony set everyone up with a room; Natasha was the only one to decline and bail. Clint and Bruce retired almost immediately, whereas her children devoured the entire contents of the kitchen alongside Steve before showing signs of fatigue. 

A little past midnight, Darcy ended up in the old master bedroom with all her children in bed with her. And Chip, who slept cuddled up at the foot of the bed. And Cheshire, who stood sentry in the corner of the room dozing on her feet. Her heart was full with love and gratitude that no one had died that day, that she was finally home, that a reunion with her other children was close at hand. So filled with emotion and giddy with anticipation, she was the last to succumb to sleep. 

However, before she finally closed her eyes for the night she spied Tony and Steve standing shoulder to shoulder in the doorway watching over them. The sight gave her hope for reconciliation between the pair, but the fact that neither one approached further than the door gave her pause. She would have invited them closer if she could, but it had been a long day. And she was very tired. 

‘Tomorrow’ she promised herself, she would deal with it all tomorrow.  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO.  
> I wonder what's going to happen next?
> 
> We've got a handful of chapters left and then this one is coming to a close. Note I ended an end chapter #.
> 
> If you want to let me know what conflict you are most interested in dealing with first I will take it under advisement.  
> Tony/Steve/Darcy =relationship status  
> Blending the Families  
> Finding and saving Wanda  
> or   
> Steve/Darcy/Bucky/Tony/Thor =relationship status??? (if you want to know more about that one you'll have to wait until Thor returns from Asgard tho)


	15. Chapter 15 – Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy wakes up in the Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not read through the chapter, (sorry there are prob some mistakes and stuff but I remind y'all this is my hobby) but it is 16 pages long! so, yay?

Chapter 15 – Control

She woke to an empty bed and the sound of raised voices coming from another room. With a whine she stretched out her limbs waking up her body as her mind catalogued everything around her. The glowing red numbers on the bedside clock mocked her, she’d slept past noon and she could only hope whoever was fighting was limiting themselves to words.

She got up and dragged the top sheet with her, wrapping it around her body like a robe. Tony had lent her some clothes to sleep in that looked vaguely familiar to her, but the morning air had a bite to it. She made her way slowly and stumbled into the door of the bathroom, tripping on her sheet. “Ow.” 

“Good afternoon Miss Darcy.” Jarvis’s cultured voice sounded as she draped her sheet on top of the counter so she could pee unencumbered. 

“Mmmrrrr.” She wordlessly responded. 

“I shall alert the others that you have awoken and tell them to prepare you breakfast.” 

“Mm.”   
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Finished with her morning bathroom activities Darcy wrapped the sheet around her body once more. If she were home on Asgard, this would be one of the days were she allowed herself to be lazy and hang around in bed all day. She was tired and sore and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed, but she wasn’t on Asgard anymore. She was home.

“What’s going on?” She asked as she entered the kitchen where the loud angry voices were coming from. 

Bruce and Tyr were sitting at the table quietly eating sandwiches, her son had a book in front of him and Bruce was reading the paper. It didn’t surprise her at all that her Tyr got along with the reserved scientist; she doubted that they’d spoken beyond a friendly greeting. Her son could sit and read in silence for hours on end. She had a feeling Bruce appreciated that kind of company. 

With a sigh she turned away from the quiet couple and fixed her tired gaze on the glaring males who were cooking presumably her breakfast. Steve was in front of the stove, he was making her pancakes and bacon. Clint was next to him at the counter cutting up fruit and putting it into a blender. They were making her favorites. 

Steve gestured to Clint with a spatula saying, “He wants to be your bodyguard again!”

“Tony offered me a job and I took it! I don’t get why _you_ of all people, give a shit! Aren’t you dating Barnes now? What makes you think you have a say in Darcy’s life at all anymore?” Clint responded angrily. 

Her nose crinkled in confusion. “I thought you re-joined S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“I did.” Clint said grumpily as he slammed the cover on top of the blender. “Because Tony fired me after you got abducted by aliens.” He directed his next words at Steve. “Now she’s back. And so am I. So, deal with it.” 

Steve opened his mouth to speak but Clint pointedly hit ‘blend’ on the machine making her wince and drowning out whatever Steve was about to say. Darcy decided not to get to deal with it and instead shuffled over to the table where Bruce and Tyr were.

“Hey.” She greeted as she plopped into a chair next to her son.

“Good morning.” Bruce said as he sipped from a teacup. She gave him a brief smile before turning on her son and lifting the book so she could read the front.

She read it aloud. “Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s ‘Astrophysics for People in a Hurry’?” 

Tyr brushed her hand away putting the book flat once again. “Your man Stark lent it to me.” 

“Where is Tony? And the other kids?” She asked as she covered her mouth and yawned, but internally she noted how Tyr oh so formally addressed Tony by ‘Stark’. 

“Tony took them out.” Bruce informed her.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Out?”

“He asked me to come along too, but I didn’t want to leave you alone.” Tyr told her, eyeing her as she stole a sip form his glass of orange juice. She grinned at him cheekily and held it out for him to take back. 

“Out where?” She asked Bruce.

“Shopping.” He told her with eyes twinkling. “He said the kids needed something to wear other than--” He politely cleared his throat, eyeing Tyr’s Asgardian attire. “He thought they would like to pick out some clothes and things, since it appears you packed lightly for your trip back to Earth. Pegasus’s notwithstanding.” 

Darcy grinned, “You met Cheshire up close yet?” 

Bruce looked alight with scientific curiosity. “I did.” He took another sip of tea as Clint and Steve’s hushed bickering began again. They cast the men a glance, but ignored them. “Remarkable creature.” He commented, his eyes going back to his paper. “Tony took her to a nearby stable—which he just bought by the way. The horse shit on his Gucci shoes. Alice seemed annoyed that the animal wasn’t welcome in this penthouse, but ultimately agreed she would be happier in a different environment.”

“And where’s Chip?” She asked, looking around the apartment for her furry best friend. “I want snuggles.” 

“Zoran insisted Chip get to go ‘shopping’ too.” Tyr said rolling his eyes. 

Darcy pouted. “Phooey.” Chip becoming her sons favorite thing sucked sometimes. “I hate sharing him.” 

This made the side of Tyr’s mouth lift in amusement. Before they could say anything else, Steve and Clint came up from behind her and placed food in front of her while they continued to bicker with one another.

“You can’t think you can just reinsert yourself into our life after three years of no contact.” Steve argued as he handed her silverware and sat down next to her with his own plate of food. “And you expect to have your old room just ready and waiting for you?”

“Do not project your own fears and issues on me, Rogers.” Clint threw a napkin at her face as he sat on the other side of her and addressed Steve angrily. “I’m just telling you what Tony offered. And I accepted. A job. My old job. The reason you were not involved or consulted is because it does not concern you. And you? Are not in charge. Not of me. Or Darcy. Or any of it, man!”

“We don’t need you Clint.”Steve said in a matter of fact manner. “Darcy doesn’t need a body guard around when Bucky’s going to be home with her fulltime. He’ll protect her.”

“And who will protect her from _him_? Hmm?” 

Steve stared at Clint coldly. “You should go back to Shield while Fury can excuse your inconsistent behavior to the after effects of being under Loki’s mind control.” 

Darcy tensed as she heard Steve’s plans for her…and Bucky. “Who says I’m going to be staying home alone all day?” 

Steve stared back at her like her reaction saddened him. “I just assumed-”

“See Steve!” Clint exclaimed victoriously, “You’re so damn virtuous and commanding; you think that gives you the right to issue out orders. But this isn’t the field. Your family is not your team. You are not in charge of shi--” 

“My mother will not be home alone,” Tyr interrupted them in a pointed tone. “I will be with her as will my siblings and soon my father shall return from Asgard.” 

Steve didn’t hesitate before responding in an authoritative voice. “You’re ten. You’ll be going to school.” 

“Steve.” She said his name warningly. At the look in her eyes he must have realized how overbearing he was acting, he looked down averting his gaze. 

In a sullen voice he said, “Kids go to school. That’s what they do. How am I the bad guy here?” 

“Not all kids.” She told him sharply, “And it’s not—you and Tony should not be planning for _our_ future without _my_ input, let alone saying anything to _my_ kids! To my Asgardian children in particular.” 

Steve’s head snapped up. “But you’re staying right? On Earth. You’re not going—you’re all staying--”

“Yes, Steve.” She read the fear in his voice easily. She put a comforting hand on his wrist. “We’re staying.” 

“I do not want to go to school.” Tyr interjected. “Not if it means leaving you alone and at the mercy of your many enemies.” 

Darcy smiled sadly at her son. He was such a good boy. “You’ll be going to school.” 

“But--”

“You’ll like it.” She told him with a warm smile. “You’ll make friends. Learn stuff. Maybe even meet a girl?”

Tyr’s face fell flat. “I have no say in this, do I?”

“Nope.” She informed him with an impish grin. Picking up a slice of bacon she bit into it and then offered the other half to her son like an olive branch, “But if you really hate regular school we can look into a trade school or…there are other options. We’ll do some research, scout the places out, and decide what’s best.” 

“And when you say ‘we’?” He asked as he snatched away her offered bacon and bit into it with a pout. 

“I mean ‘we’ the grownups in your life.” She shot Steve a pointed look. “As a group we will decide what is best for you,” She turned her gaze pack on Tyr’s grumpy expression, “my beloved children.” 

“S’not fair.” Tyr grumbled. 

“Life never is.” She told him with a kind smile. 

Thoughtfully chewing, Tyr perked up a second later. “Alice has to go too though. Right? And Zoran?” 

“Yup.” She nodded, “You’ll all suffer equally and most importantly, together.”   
.  
.  
.  
Steve and Clint tried to argue about his employment further, but Darcy shut them down. She asked Bruce to tell her about science and he smiled, bemused by the broadness of her question or her tactic to end the conflict. 

Gamely he talked about the scepter and how he thought it may work and what they could learn from it if they ever got the chance to study it. Clint politely excused himself, kissing her on the cheek and whispering, ‘welcome back’ in her ear before leaving the apartment. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Clint being her body guard once again. She wanted him as her friend, most definitely, but Steve was right. He wasn’t going to be needed in a professional capacity moving forward. Of that she was sure.

Not missing a beat, Bruce rambled about the Tesseract and his theories on the Bifrost and how they might use the powerful cube to repair it. Tyr declared him surprisingly close to the truth and Bruce preened a little. The pair then got into a deep discussion about science and magic and the connection between the two on Asgard.

Darcy let their conversation wash over her as she ate. Steve kept glancing at her and she knew he wanted to talk, probably about the Bucky thing, but she ignored him.

When she was done eating, Steve wordlessly cleaned up after both of them. She got up and followed him, shadowing his movement but not offering to help. He hand washed their plates in the sink while she leant against the counter and watched. 

With the water running and Bruce and Tyr caught up in their own conversation, Darcy felt a little more open to discussing such a sensitive subject. 

“I might not be comfortable being at home with Bucky, pregnant and alone.” She told him in a low serious voice.

“You haven’t even met him.” Steve argued.

“Yes I have.” She reminded him kindly. “I met him during the Citizen’s Duty process, saw firsthand how twisted up inside he was. And then again on Halloween.” 

Steve scrubbed at the bacon grease roughly. “He’s a different person now.” 

“And I’m open to meeting him.” She informed him, putting a hand on his shoulder to soften the blow of her words. “I’m even a little excited about it. But--”

“But?” He interrupted with an edge in his voice. 

“But I may not be comfortable around him. I might be jealous of you two. What you have. I could end up resenting him for breaking up you and Tony. And me.” Steve looked away from her and she tightened her grip on his arm. “I might hate him. I might not. I could be afraid of him, of what he could do to me or my babies. I-” 

Steve shook off her hand. Glaring at her, betrayal shining in his eyes, he repeated, “You haven’t even met him.” 

Not willing to let him think that any of this was okay, she met his gaze straight on. “I need you to know that you are not in charge of me. Or my children. I am the mother. I am in charge. My opinion matters the most, what I say goes. And if I am uncomfortable with someone living in my home, interacting with my innocent and vulnerable children, they will be asked to leave.” 

Steve threw down the plate and it shattered in the sink making her jump. “Bucky would never hurt the kids.” 

“I don’t know that.” She told him honestly. “I don’t know him.” 

“That’s right you don’t know him!” He shouted in her face. 

“Mother?” Tyr said standing up from the table, a sword appearing in his hand. He was staring at Steve and looking ready to fight. 

“It’s fine.” She told him.

“I doesn’t look fine.” Bruce disagreed as he too stood up from the table.

Steve clenched his jaw and his hands into fists as he stared at the men at the table. She could see things going very bad, very quickly. She moved around Steve and stood in his way, recapturing his attention. She put a gentle hand on his chest and looked into his eyes and tried to convince him that she wasn’t trying to hurt him. “I’m not trying to make you angry.”

“You’re trying to get me to choose between my children and Bucky.” He told her as he took a step away from her and folded his arms in front of his chest. 

“No.” She shook her head sadly, “No, I’m not.” 

“That’s what it sounds like to me.” He told her stiffly. 

“Then I’m sorry.” She apologized easily. “I just wanted you to know that…” Her words trailed off as she tried to find the right words to explain herself. “I just wanted to warn you that you can’t—you aren’t in charge. I’m in charge. And I’m not going to just go along with what you think is best. I can’t have you making plans upon my behalf. You or Tony.”

Steve swallowed thickly and his eyes changed from aggressive, to understanding but sad. She kept speaking in a calm even voice. “Things might not work out with all of us living in the mansion in Malibu. I want it to, I so badly want us to be one big happy family, but I’m not stupid, I don’t have the luxury of it. I’m a mother now. The most important thing in my life is them and…I need to protect my children.” 

“And you think they need protection from Bucky?” Steve challenged, “You haven’t even seen all the progress he’s made. You—you don’t know him,”

“This isn’t about Bucky.” She tried to tell him, but he kept on talking over her. 

“You haven’t seen how good he is with Maria-Sarah or W--”  
“Steve!” She shouted. “This isn’t about Bucky.” Steve looked taken aback by her raised voice and she took advantage, speaking quickly she explained herself as best she could. “This is about managing expectations and facing the complicated reality of our situation.” 

She ran an aggravated hand through her hair as she began to rant. “Two thirds of my children aren’t human. Thor is coming back. And he’s my husband. And before Tony got kidnapped he asked me to marry him and if he still wants to, I’m going to marry him too. Me and my husbands and children will live together and you,…you obviously love Bucky very much. You moved on while I was gone, and I don’t blame you for it. I’m happy for you. I’m grateful you haven’t been alone, you deserve love and a life filled with happiness and all the good things. And I promise, I’m not trying to take that anything away from you or reject you b--”

“But you are.” He accused. 

“But my children come first.” She corrected.

“You just threatened to evict me and Bucky from our home!” Steve shouted. “How is taking away the only father Maria-Sarah’s ever known, what’s best for her? Or is—have you forgotten you have another daughter? Another son? Do you even care about--”

Her hand shot out on instinct, but Steve was Captain America. He grabbed her wrist before her palm could make contact with his cheek. “Don’t you dare.” She warned as she shook free of his grip. “Don’t you dare say I don’t care about _all_ my children. You have no idea what I’ve endured to get back here to them. How far I’m willing to go so that my family is finally together.”

“I thought I was your family.” Steve said in a hurt voice. 

“You were.” She responded before she could stop herself. Steve took a step back and she knew it was because she’d said ‘were’ instead of ‘are’. Past tense verses present. She winced at her thoughtless wording then began speaking in a rushed manner to hopefully undo her mistake, “No matter what, my children come first. That’s all--that’s all I meant. That’s what I was trying to say to you, about you and Bucky and Bucky and the kids and, me. Before ego or romantic entanglements or personal preference, my children come first. I will do what is best for them. No matter what, I will act in their best interest.”

Steve looked angry and sad and like…she didn’t even know. “I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sorry too.” 

They stood standing and behind her she knew Bruce and Tyr were both creeping closer and she could only imagine what they thought of her. 

“How about we all take a break?” Bruce suggested as brushed past her and moved to Steve’s side. “I could use some help planning my next move. Steve? Maybe, you could help me out?” He looked between her and Steve, before adding, “In the other room.”

“Sure.” Steve said in a flat voice. She hated the sound of it. He was sad and disappointed in her and angry. And really, he had every right to be.

“Mother?” Tyr said, as they watched Bruce lead Steve out of the room. “Will he be a problem?” 

She opened her mouth, but stopped short of saying ‘yes’. In her heart she knew the transition of her return and reintegration would be hardest for Steve to deal with. However, she didn’t want Tyr to think of him that way. As an obstacle they would have to overcome or a adversary they had to turn into an ally. And that’s how Tyr would view him if she expressed any more concern over Steve and their future together. 

She smiled at her son and put her arm around his shoulders, bringing him in for a one armed hug; she kissed his temple and told him, “No. Steve is our family and he is not a problem.” 

“He looked as if he wanted to strike you.” Tyr argued.

“He would never.” She said with confidence. “He would die before hurting me.” 

“Are you certain?” Tyr pressed, “Not even if hurting you meant saving this man, Bucky?” 

She should have hesitated. She should have felt uncertain given the heated exchange she’d just had with Steve. Given how much had changed between them. How much was about to change even further. However there was not an ounce of doubt in her heart when she responded, “Steve would never hurt me. Steve loves me and I love him. And we will find a way to work things out.” 

“And if you can’t?” 

“We will.” She wrapped her arms around Tyr and pulled him in for a proper hug so he couldn’t see her face and just because she needed the embrace. Intellectually she knew everything could implode. She felt like the return to Malibu could be like walking into a powder keg. 

Tyr tried to be comforting. “It will be easier once father returns.” 

She snorted and then pulled away from the hug. “Sure.”   
.  
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Two hours or so later found the four of them Bruce, Steve, Darcy, and Tyr all sitting in uncomfortable silence watching ‘America’s Next Top Model’ reruns on VH1. The quiet was only interrupted periodically when Tyr asked a question regarding an aspect of the show.

The sound of a dog barking preceded Tony shouting obnoxiously, “Honey! I’m home.” 

“Thank god.” Bruce muttered under his breath as they got up to greet the group. 

Chip made a beeline for her and Darcy bent down and patted the excited canine, pressing kisses to his head and patting him reassuringly, she baby talked to him. “Hi fur baby. Hello. Did you miss me? I missed you. Hello. Hi Chippy.” 

“What is all that?” Tyr asked, bringing her attention back to the humans. Alice, Clint, and Tony were all carrying multiple shopping bags. From the look of it they had bought out two stores. Zoran on the other hand had a churro in one hand and cotton candy in the other. And there was chocolate smeared around his mouth. She could only imagine what they had gotten up to. 

Catching her eye Tony smiled and dropped the bags to the floor carelessly. “C’mere beautiful.” 

Wordlessly she obeyed. Tony held out his arms and she stepped into his personal space. His hands went to her hips and his lips her cheek. Then her other cheek. And then he kissed her on the lips. 

“Ugh.” Alice exclaimed. “Gross.” 

“Did he buy you kids the whole store?” Steve asked sounding perturbed. 

“No!” Zoran answered cheerily not acknowledging Steve’s tone or not aware of it. “First we went to this place called a ‘toy store’ and I gotted all these new things to play with and then people saw that Tony was there and they tried to like, mob us, but he just scribbled his name on papers and they went away. And then Tony tooked us to a place to eat and it was smelly and fancy and boring so we left and bought food off the streets. Some peoples kept flashing lights at us and asking us to smile and it was stupid so I stole all the ‘cameras’ and threw them into the lake in the park and I was so fast they didn’t even know what happened! They looked like—‘whaaaaa’ and I laughed and laughed and Tony didn’t even get me in trouble! And then Alice whined that toys and mama’s hand me downs weren’t suffic—succicent—weren’t good enough. And then we went to a clothing stores. And she tried on a bajillion stuff. It was boring, but also kind of fun. SHE WORE PINK! I never seen Alice wear pink before! And she looked real pretty and even though she hates dresses she buyed five of them! And Tony convinced her to buy makes up and lip paint and all this other stuff, but then Clint showed up and he took me to the boys stuff and I got a shirt with TONY’S ROBOT FACE ON IT! And I learned that stealing is wrong and underwear goes _inside_ the pants.” 

“Yeah, we kind of got thrown out Neiman Marcus.” Clint added making Bruce chuckle. 

She felt a little bad for making out with Tony all the while Zoran was explaining, but her son didn’t seem to mind or notice so she didn’t feel too bad. Pecking Tony’s lips once more before pulling away she was a little breathless as she said, “Sounds like you guys had fun.” 

He smirked at her. “Alice was a little harder to win over than Zoran, but five hours and three grand later I think she doesn’t hate me.” 

He snuck in a kiss to her collar bone before stepping away from her. Darcy swatted at his arm and smiled at him, unable to wipe the loving expression from her face. Zoran zipped over to her and jumped up and down as he continued to talk. “Then we went to get food again, but this time at a store just for candy, Mama!”

“A store only filled with candy?” She said matching his enthusiasm.

“Yeah!”

“Did you bring me any?” She questioned as she licked her thumb and wiped away from Zoran’s chocolate mustache. 

“Yeah!” He cheered while wiggling in her grip, “And, I ated so much I threw up, but then they let me run around in the park and I got hungry and we got food again from the streets! Tony’s the bestest boyfriend evers and if you and him and dada want to do grown up time activities, then, uh, that’s okay doke by me!” He concluded his supportive statement by biting into his churro and grinning up at her with his mouth full, which usually made her laugh, however she was a little stunned by his statement. 

Blinking she looked over to Tony for an explanation. “Grown up time activities?” 

Tony appeared a little flushed as he responded, “Yeah? Ya know. Taxes. Paying bills. Other things…” 

When she looked over at Alice she found her daughter made up in a way she had never really seen before. Her daughter was a natural beauty to be sure, however with eye shadow, lip stick, and mascara she looked like a knock out. With a bemused grin she realized she was also wearing one of Tony’s shirts and probably a pair of Darcy’s old leggings. Her daughter stared back and grinned in a similar fashion. “You had fun?” 

Alice shrugged with force nonchalance. “It wasn’t terrible.” 

Squinting she realized something. “Did you get your nails done?” 

Grinning Alice held out her hands for her mother’s inspection. “Yes! Aren’t they pretty?” 

Darcy let out a laugh at her daughter’s unusual girly response. Her laughter only grew when Tony put his hand next to Alice’s showing off his well manicured fingernails as well. “We got our toes done too.” He boasted, bumping his shoulder into Alice’s making the girl snort.

“Okay, now I’m a little jealous.” She said as she pushed back some of her hair from her face. 

“Hey,” Tony bragged, “You want me to paint your toes, I’ll paint your toes.” Turning she looked at Steve, as nail painting was kind of their ‘thing’. However, all she caught was his retreating back from the room. 

Not letting her disappointment show, she put on a happy face and her ‘mom’ voice. “Okay. Clint, Tyr, Bruce, can you help Alice and Zoran put all the bags…uh, in the living room? I guess? And then, uh, order pizza while the kids set the table?” 

She was grateful when the others did as she asked without much complaint and even more so when Tony took her hand and led her down the hall Steve had disappeared down. “What happened while I was gone?” 

“Steve and I got in a fight.” She responded with a sigh. “It was mostly my fault, but it needed to happen. And hey,” She stopped to swat at his arm.

“Ow! What did I do?” 

“You hired Clint to babysit me?” She accused. “Without my permission! Or asking me first! Or like--”

“Hey.” Tony pulled her in close and kissed her, “Clint asked me if he could hang around. I said yes.”

“What?” She said confused, as that is not what Clint had said earlier, “But he said--”

“What Loki did really messed with his head.” Tony explained, “He killed his co-workers and yeah, he wasn’t in his right mind, but he did it. That kind of loss of…autonomy, he seemed like he just needed a break from S.H.I.E.L.D. and I was kind of an asshole when I fired him anyway, so I said come back and work for us, and he was, just so relieved.” He kissed her softly, “Sorry I didn’t tell you, but you were asleep.” 

“Oh.” She said.

“Is that okay with you? If Clint sort of, bunks with us for a while?” Tony asked, grabbing up her hand he kissed her knuckles then pressed the back of her hand to his cheek. “I’ll tell him to hit the road if--”

“No.” She exclaimed. Putting her hand on his shoulder she gave it a squeeze, “No.” 

“Okay.” 

“Okay.” 

“Let’s go talk to Steve?” Tony said, gesturing to the room at the end of the hall.

She pulled back on their joint hands. “Actually, could we not?” 

“The fight you had was that bad?” He asked with a furrowed brow. “I know you two, I know this whole thing with the three of us got messed up but…I kinda expected when you came back, he would drop Barnes and come back into the fold.” 

Darcy gave him a disappointed look. “You really expected Steve to ‘drop’ his long time best friend/lover?” 

Tony shrugged but didn’t respond. She stared at the door Steve presumably was brooding behind. “I still love Steve.”

“He still loves you.” Tony insisted.

“I know.” She said softly, a heavy sadness in her tone.

“I still love you.” He reminded her quietly.

Looking away from the door, she shifted her gaze to Tony’s worried one. Reaching out she put a hand on his face and stepped closer. She brought their lips inches apart and whispered, “I know.” 

Their kiss was soft but powerful and soon she was looping her arms around his neck and he was walking forwards until her back was flush against the wall. She didn’t mean to get so wrapped up in him, but things with Tony were just so much easier. Kissing him, loving him, being with him. It was so uncomplicated. Effortless. She just knew he would be open to letting Thor join their family. And join their ‘grown up activity’ time in the bedroom. 

When she sucked his lower lip into her mouth he let out a groan that had her smiling in satisfaction. Lifting her left leg she hooked it around his waist and pulled him closer. “I love you.” 

“I love you too Tony.” She said as she sucked and kissed and bit at his neck. 

“I have a confession.” Tony said, trying to pull away. 

“Tell me later,” Darcy dismissed as she went in for another kiss. Tony only allowed her to distract him for another minute or two before he pulled away and put his hands out in front of him, as if she were a wild animal who’s attack he was warding off.

“Stay.” He backed up until he was leaning against the wall opposite her. Slightly panting he ran his hand through his hair and looked her up and down. “You are exactly as I remembered.” 

“Ditto.” She replied. Tony chuckled, but his eyes widened when Darcy arched her back, thrusting out her chest and stared at him with lust in her eyes. 

Gulping Tony repeated himself. “I have a confession.”

“So,” She said in a husky voice, “Confess.” 

“I had Jarvis listening in while I was out.” 

She snorted, “I would expect nothing less from you. It’s fine.”

“I had him summarize--” Tony stopped himself, shaking his head as if clearing his thoughts, he met her eyes and she saw they were now serious and devoid of the playful lust. She let her back flop backwards and she straightened up, mirroring him in demeanor. 

“And?” 

“You still want to marry me?” Tony said in a small hopeful voice.

“Yes.” She said with sincere smile. 

“And Thor?” 

“Polygamy is a common practice on Asgard.” 

Tony looked back to the door where Steve was hiding behind. “You think Steve will ever want us again?” 

“I think he wants us now.” She told him truthfully, “But everything’s so messy. With the kids. With the addition of Thor. And Bucky…”

“He killed my parents.” He told her, his voice gone cold. “You know that right? Barnes he—he killed my mom. And Howard. It was a Hydra hit and they sent--”

Darcy crossed the small divide between them and put her arms around Tony as he lost the ability to speak. He buried his face in her shoulder and she could feel his body shaking with suppressed emotion. “I’m here.” She told him as she cradled his body to hers. “I’m here now. I’m back and I’m not going anywhere.” 

“I missed you.” Tony cried quietly, “I needed you and you were gone.” 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered into his ear. “I’m so sorry.” 

The door opened and Steve stood there, staring at them. Tony jumped out of her embrace and turned to the wall, wiping at his face and trying to pull himself together. She tried to downplay the moment with pep. “Hey Steve, what’s up?”

“I have enhanced hearing.” He said. And then he walked over to Tony, spun him around and hugged him. “I’m sorry Tony. I’m sorry I hurt you.” 

Tony was stiff in his arms for a few seconds before he returned the embrace. Darcy watched the pair and knew this solved nothing. But it was a start. A real start that they could build on and move forward from. 

Being as obnoxious as possible she pulled and Tony and Steve’s arms demanding, “Let me in. Let me in to the hug!” 

Both men chuckled, even though they were both crying at this point and allowed her into the hug. She wormed her way into the middle and faced Steve, wrapping her arms around him she let Tony enfold her from behind. Squished between them, it felt right.   
.  
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Clint’s shouts of “Pizza’s here, get it before the tiny one devours it singlehandedly!” Had the three of them breaking a part. 

“We’re not done talking.” She informed them as she wiped away a stray tear. “I’m not giving up on this.” 

Steve put a hand on the back of neck and wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Sure, Darcy.” 

“Yes, dear.” Tony said glibly as he pressed a kiss to her cheek and threw an arm around her shoulders. Guiding her toward the kitchen he declared, “So, I’m thinking a June wedding.” 

“What month is it now?” 

“June.”   
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Over dinner plans were made to return to Malibu. 

It was decided that taking Cheshire in a plane was not a good idea considering the flight was five hours long. The magical creature couldn’t be still and behave for that long, nor did they want to guess how much sedative it would take to restrain her, given her magical creature status. Accidentally killing her with an overdose would severely suck.

“I could take her the long way; fly by night so we aren’t seen. Camp during the day and ride until the sky grows dark enough to fly.” Alice suggested. 

“Fly with your magical pony across the whole damn country? I don’t think so.” Tony flippantly dismissed. 

“By yourself in a world you don’t know? I agree with Tony. Doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Steve said.

Alice ignored them both. “Mom?” 

“You really want to do that?” She asked.

Alice shrugged and smiled. “It could be fun?” 

“I could tag along.” Clint offered. “Show her the sights, give her the grand ‘this is Earth’ tour.” 

“Aka babysit me?” Alice said shrewdly.

“Aka show you how to ‘road trip’ without getting bed bugs from sleazy motels.” Clint said with a cheeky smile. 

“Are you kidding?” Tony scoffed, “Dream on Barton.” 

“I wanna road trip!” Zoran shouted enthusiastically. 

“No.” Alice refused, not even moved a little when her little brother gave her his most devastating puppy dog eyed look. “No, Zoran.” 

“Awww.” Zoran whined before turning his attention back to eating his weight in pizza.

“If I let you do it,” Darcy started eyeing her daughter seriously, “Clint would be in charge.” 

“Yes!” Clint cheered at the same time Steve said her name shocked, “Darcy!” 

Tony just whipped out his phone and started muttering, “Plot out their course, make reservations don’t forget to factor in bathroom breaks, and let’s hack into air traffic control now and start mapping their systems so we can--”

“Tony!” Steve said the man’s name as if he was both scandalized and disappointed. 

Tony’s mustache twitched. “Whatta do you expect me to do? It’s her kid, Steve.” 

“She’s my kid!” Steve shouted as he got to his feet. Her eyes went to Alice and she saw her daughter looking at Steve with gratitude. Or maybe awe? She wondered what her daughter was thinking, she could guess, but she really wanted to _know_.

Steve looked into Alice’s eyes and he, deflated. Sat back down in his chair and said quietly, this time talking directly to Alice. “You’re my kid.” 

There was a long awkward silence before Alice spoke. “You could come with me instead of Clint?” 

Steve’s eyes darted over to her, panicked. Darcy nodded at him encouragingly. “You could Steve, if you wanted.” 

“I—I could do that.” Steve stammered. 

“Either way, we will have to get the chariot back from those agents.” Tyr said practically. 

“On it.” Tony said. 

“But Bucky,” Steve started, “It’ll take us, what—a week? To cross the country by horse? I don’t even know.” 

“Probably less than that.” Tony said tilting his head to the side as if visualizing the math. “Depending on how fast it can fly.” 

“As fast as a car.” Darcy supplied quickly. 

“So about a week.” Tony agreed with a nod.

“So you’d all get to Malibu a week earlier than me?” Steve looked down at his lap and she could see him fidgeting. “I don’t know if Bucky can handle—if I could…”

Alice didn’t say a word. She just glared at Steve and then got up and left the room. 

“Coward.” Tyr muttered under his breath. Then he too was on his feet and storming out of the room. 

“I’m sorry.” Steve muttered before fleeing the room in the opposite direction. 

After a beat Clint looked at her hopefully, “So I’m back in charge for the road trip?” 

Bruce, who had been silent all dinner, sighed and picked up Clint’s beer stealing a sip. He gestured to the table and addressed Tony, “And you want me to come and stay with you while you’ve got all this going on?”

That was news to her. “You invited Bruce to live with us too!?” She smacked Tony on the arm repeatedly. 

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” He complained. 

However Zoran perked up at the news. “THE MONSTER MAN IS COMING TO LIVE WITH ME?!” He zoomed over to Bruce and picked up the man’s hand. Jumping up and down excitedly he jiggled Bruce’s appendage yelling loudly, “YAAAY!” 

“Anyone else?!” Darcy demanded as she continued to swat at Tony.

“Temporarily!” Tony whined, “I invited him to stay with us temporarily!” 

“You’re an ass.” She said as she pushed away from the table. “Zoran!” He was by her side in an instant. “Let’s go take Chip for a walk.” 

“Yay!” Her son cheered before zooming out of sight and returning with their dog and his leash in his arms. 

She pointed at Tony and snarled, “You fix this and you do it before I get back.” 

“Um. Fix what, specifically?” Tony asked.

Narrowing her eyes she told him, “Get Steve to agree to go with Alice and Clint for the road trip. Clint will be the buffer, Alice will get to finally bond with her biological father, and Steve will calm the fuck down ‘cuz we both know he’s only being like this because he feels out of control.” 

“How will I--”

“Just!” The anger bled a away a little and she turned on Tony with soft eyes. “Just, please fix it?” 

Tony swallowed thickly and nodded. “Gimmie half an hour.” 

“I’m counting on you Tony.” She said in parting as she took Zoran’s hand and walked out of the room with her son and her dog.   
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They returned an hour later and with gelato for everyone. Alice was in a mood and refused the yummy treat and Bruce had turned in for the night, but everyone else was delighted by the surprise. 

“So, I fixed it.” Tony told her as he caught her hand, and kept her trapped in the kitchen while everyone dug in to the desert in the dining room. 

“You did?” 

“We’re going to have to hang out here in New York for a couple days, give Steve and co. a head start back to Malibu, Steve was afraid we would gang up on Barnes or evict him while he was—well, now it really doesn’t matter what he thought. We leave for California in three days and then, you’ll finally get to meet Maria-Sarah and Winn.”

Darcy jerked back. “Who the fuck is Winn?” 

“What?” Tony said sounding surprised.

She shoved at his chest, “You renamed my kid?!” 

“What?” Tony repeated, blatantly playing dumb.

“Our son,” She pinched his ear and tugged forcing his head down. “What the hell is his name?” 

“Anthony Edwin Stark.” Tony said dutifully. “Also, ow. Could you let go?” 

She did. And she thought about what he said. Anthony ‘Edwin’ Stark. _Edwin._ Winn. “Winn.” She repeated as she put the pieces together. She’d named her first born son after Tony, honoring him for everything he’d brought to her life. Anthony Jr. she’d named him. She’d never given her son a middle name. “Edwin Jarvis.” She said, the name springing to her mind quickly. “You named him after Jarvis? The real Jarvis who raised you, didn’t you?” 

Tony sensing the change in her mood, smiled and moved closer. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and did nothing to stop them. “Didn’t you?” She repeated. 

“I did.” Tony said as he kissed her softly on the lips before hugging her. 

“And you call him Winn for short?” Darcy guessed. 

“It was just less confusing.” Tony explained, downplaying the sentimental reasoning behind the name change. 

“It’s a good name.” 

“He’s a good boy.” Tony assured her as pulled back and kissed her cheek. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.” 

“Me too.”   
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure Darcy will be antsy waiting those couple of days before going to reunite with her babies and yeah it doesn't make total sense, but it's what Steve needs so she'll do it and also a week compared to waiting 15 years? That's not such a big deal right? 
> 
> Just so we're all clear Anthony Jr will be referred to as "Winn" from now on. He is Darcy/Tony bio kid.  
> Maria-Sarah is Steve/Darcy bio kid and Alice's identical twin sister, but Maria-Sarah is 3 and Alice is 15, so that's gonna be weird mini-me mind trippy.  
> Zoran is 5.  
> Tyr is technically 10 (but as an 'old soul' aka God of War he is much older than he is physically in many ways and also NOT in others)  
> Also, remember Darcy is pregnant with 3rd Thor/Darcy kid right now. 
> 
> So. I hope u all remember that. And liked the chapter even if I pushed the reunion of Darcy/babies because I really want to go swimming at my friends house now.K? Bye.


	16. Chapter 16 – New York to Malibu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy finally meets Anthony Edwin Stark Jr. AKA Winn for short.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big long chapter with lots of hidden link goodies. Enjoy!

Chapter 16 – New York to Malibu

After waiting fifteen years to meet her babies, waiting an extra week was both a breeze and a torment. However it did give her time to emotionally prepare and through Tony, get to know her children a little and what their life had been like without her. 

Both Maria-Sarah and Winn knew of her existence, a fact for which she was immensely grateful. One of her deepest fears had been showing up to meet them and having to contend with some bullshit lie about her ‘being dead’ being a ‘misunderstanding’. No, Tony had completely honest with the children, telling them the truth as much as their three year old understanding would allow for. They knew their mother was Darcy Lewis, they knew they had a third sibling, and they knew she had been taken another planet to save her life. 

Steve had apparently attempted to tell them she was gone forever at one point, but Tony steamrolled them with hope and both her children believed their mommy would come back some day. And they were quickly approaching that day.

The waiting was brutal but Tyr and Zoran kept her spirits up as much as they could, showing the two New York and subsequently teaching them about Earth and how to live on it inconspicuously served as an easy distraction, but the real highlight was watching Tony win over her boys. It wasn’t hard to win over Zoran, he was little and enthusiastic and loved sugar. Tyr on the other hand, watching Tony try to endear himself was at times a comedy of errors. But in the moments when Tony’s efforts weren’t so over the top, she could see Tyr softening to him and it warmed her heart. Truly but the end of the week Zoran loved Tony as much as he loved the warriors 3 and Lady Sif. And Tyr, well, if she had to put into words how she thought her son felt about Tony she would have to say Tyr no longer only tolerated him, but saw the strategic value to Tony’s presence in her life and adjusted his affections accordingly.

It was undeniable how much joy Tony brought her. She was just as at ease with him as she was with her husband of the past ten years. And she knew Tyr could see that. He could feel how much she loved Tony. How much she wanted them all to be a family. And she was grateful for his efforts to facilitate that dream. 

In the end, waiting a week to return to Malibu wasn’t hard. It was annoying and tiresome, but she almost felt that the time given to Tony and Tyr to bond and build a rapport was a godsend. Tyr was the most skeptical of her children and the one whom she relied on probably more than she should as a sounding board. She knew in her heart Zoran would be the easiest to adapt to their new blended family status, but Tyr? He was so loyal and so Asgardian minded, she had her worries. The last thing she wanted was to alienate her children, but the week with Tony had put to rest those negative thoughts and given her hope. 

Alice was the wild card in her mind. She knew all her children loved her and would do anything for her, just as she would do for them, but Alice’s friction with Steve up on initial meeting had also cast doubt on her happy family dreams. As the week progressed however, those doubts faded from her mind. 

“ _1 New Message_ ” Her phone buzzed. 

Tapping on the app she found a text from Steve, it was a [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/54/73/a9/5473a92a2eb280eb5d8d6f43e4bd6134.jpg) of her daughter looking bored and directly at the camera. Underneath the picture soon appeared the words, “ _S.O.S. Alice hates me!_ ” 

She tried calling Steve to talk to him but the phone went to voicemail. Ten minutes later, Steve called her.

“She hates me.” He whined as soon as she picked up the call. 

“She doesn’t hate you.” She said immediately. “She doesn’t even know you.” 

“She doesn’t want to know me!” He exclaimed huffily. “When I ask her questions she grunts out answers or snaps at me. When I try to open up and tell her about me, she makes an excuse to leave or changes the subject by asking Clint something. She hates me!”

“She doesn’t.” She assured him, “She just…Alice doesn’t trust very easily. After all that we’ve endured with Thor’s parents, after what was done to me and my memory…or at least, I think that’s why she’s not as—ya know, open? Tyr’s the same way in many respects.”

Steve sighed before saying, “Okay. I guess that makes sense.” 

“And you have to remember that she’s a teenager. So a level of moody hormone driven insanity is to be expected.” 

That made him chuckle. She could imagine he was stressfully running his hand through his hair and she wished she could hug him through the phone. “Steve? Are you sure you want to do this alone? I could—I don’t even know. I could come out and meet you and act as a buffer?” 

“No!” He exclaimed quickly before repeating himself softer. “No.” 

He didn’t say anything after that and she could only imagine what he was thinking. With a heavy sigh of her own she tried to explain what she suspected was going on. “Alice has always known you were her father. We would ask Heimdall about you from time to time, you would be mostly doing mundane things whenever we did. Cleaning dishes. Feeding Maria-Sarah. Going to the bathroom.”

“That Heimdall guy watched me go to the bathroom?” Steve interrupted.

“He’s all seeing. And very discrete.” She said with a smile. “The point is, I know for a fact that she is curious about you.”

“Then why is talking to her like talking to a wall?” Steve asked exasperated. 

“She’s scared.” Darcy said as if the answer was simple. 

“Of what?” He questioned. “Of not liking me after anticipating meeting me her whole life? Did she build up some kind of image in her head that I’m not living up to?!”

She could hear the frustration in his voice and his inability to decipher her daughter’s obnoxious teenaged behavior made her feel so sad for them all. She knew Alice so well, perhaps better than Steve ever would or could due to the time they’d missed during her formative years. Silently she prayed and was grateful that she had only missed the first three years of Winn and Maria-Sarah’s lives. Whereas Tony and Steve had missed fifteen of Alice’s. 

“Darcy?” Steve prompted, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” 

“She’s scared of the exact opposite of what you’re thinking, you big dummy.” She said with a sad smile. “She’s worried she won’t measure up to what you expect her to be. That you won’t like her. That she won’t fit into _your_ life, especially given you’ve moved on with Bucky and our romantic future is in limbo until further notice.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Steve and Darcy winced at how bitter her words sounded. “That came out wrong.” She said quickly. 

“No.” Steve disagreed, “That—you’re right. Obviously, you’re right. I should have--.” 

“Steve…” 

“Thank you.” Steve said, “I think—I’m going to go try and talk to her again.” 

“Okay.” She said softly. “Good luck.” 

“I love you Darcy.” 

“Love you too. Bye.”

Darcy stared at the phone for a long time after Steve hung up. And then Tony came into the room and informed her that the boys were asleep and he’d finished his call, which he’d taken in his workshop so as not to disturb her. 

“Are you okay?” He asked as he slid under the covers and into the bed beside her. 

“Steve called.” She informed him as she snuggled into his arms. 

“Bad news?” 

“No.” She said tentatively. “Just…news, news.” 

Tony took it upon himself to distract her from her funky mood. “Want to make out?” 

A laugh bubbled out of her. “Tony!” 

“C’mon,” He slid his arms around her and pulled her tight to his chest. Her hand rested on the metal circle in his chest, he was wearing a shirt to bed and he didn’t used to do that before. Frowning slightly she met his eyes and was about to ask about the device but she didn’t get the chance. 

Tony kissed her until thought was impossible. He kissed and touched her and it felt so good and familiar that she let all her worries and anxiety about the future fall away, just for a little while. 

They made love and it was soft and gentle and better than she remembered. As his hands traveled across her skin and his lips nipped and nibbled her sensitive spots, he catalogued and worshiped all the changes that multiple childbirths and time had taken on her body. And he made her feel beautiful despite or maybe, because of the ‘imperfections’ she’d gained. 

He let his tongue trace along her stretch marks. He gleefully squeezed her love handles and tenderly stroked the soft curve of her belly. He used a teasing fingertip to caress her ugly swollen blue varicose veins. She almost cried when he saw her breasts again, after breast feeding three children her chest had been permanently altered. Her large breasts had never been what one would call ‘perky’ but now they sagged even more so. He didn’t even bat an eye. He called her beautiful and touched her with care and love. 

And after they were thoroughly sated he took her into his arms and promised her everything would work out. He reminded her he loved her. And then they fell asleep.  
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The next morning she woke up to another text, but this time it was from Clint. It was another [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a5/5e/5a/a55e5ac551f8f11624fedf1ea426bf5d.jpg), this time of Alice’s face close up and smiling at the camera. Under the picture it read, “ _I taught her how to selfie_. sorry#notsory”. 

She was glad Clint was with Steve and Alice acting as a buffer, she knew what a good friend he could be and she was grateful her daughter had him there to ease the tension as Steve figured out how to get past her defenses. When he sent [another 3](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/81/16/b6/8116b6850a25081f5e1f29e73a041d51.jpg) ‘selfies’ Darcy texted back, “ _Who taught her how to make up? Tell Alice I said she looks gorgeous!_ ” 

Clint texted, “ _Eyes, brows, lips. Frame the face. It’s no big deal and she’s having fun experimenting with her ‘lewk’. Steve is freaking out and alienating her further. Says make up will draw unsolicited male attention._ ”

_“Remind him it’s not the 1940’s anymore.”_ She texted, automatically defending her daughters independence. She trusted Alice implicitly…and then it occurred to her that she’d always trusted Alice because Alice was always nearby.

Darcy scrolled up to look at the selfies Clint sent of Alice messing around in what looked like a motel room. The other pictures showed her daughter in a shapeless t-shirt and pink hoodie, now she wore a skimpy tank top and no visible bra straps! She realized how stupid she’d been to send her daughter off with basically an old grandpa in Steve and a devil’s advocate in Clint. Her daughter was a beauty and libel to be targeted just like Steve worried about. And just like that a stab of protective mama bear instinct surged within her. She quickly added to her message, _”Also remind Alice not to wander off with any pretty boys! (She likes them pretty, tall, and muscular and if anything happens to her I will find you and kill you!) Also, buy her some more clothes. Sweaters, hoodies, jeans, maybe a turtle neck? They didn’t have those on Asgard, she might like them! Also, she shouldn’t have to run around in a tiny tank top and no bra just because you two idiots are afraid of the ladies section in a department store! TAKE CARE OF MY BABY BARTON!!!!!”_ ”

Clint sent a ‘I REGRET EVERYTHING’ gif. She honestly didn’t know if he meant he regretted everything, or if he was calling her out for regretting.  
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Five hours later she received another S.O.S. text from Steve that read, “ _I don’t know what kind of toys to buy a teenager! HELP!”_ He sent an accompanying [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8b/79/db/8b79db7ec81b054de9c7ef03949d5432.jpg) of Alice looking bored in a toy store holding some vintage Barbie thing. 

Darcy sighed; Alice had not enjoyed playing with dolls even when she was a little girl. Her stubborn daughter much preferred swords. She texted back, _“She’s fifteen not five. If you have the downtime, show her a movie (but not WIZARD OF OZ! I want to show her that for the first time!!!!) Or maybe video games? IDK. All of Earth is new to her, she probably doesn’t know what she likes either.”_

Catching her attention, Zoran let out squeal of delight as Tony handed him a snow cone. They were at the zoo and all four of them were having a blast looking at the animals. Seeing Tyr’s eyes light up in equal enchantment as he bit into the cold treat and the grateful look he tossed Tony’s way, gave her an idea. She added to her message to Steve, _“Also try food!”_

An hour later Clint sent her a [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5e/ee/20/5eee201baa76d391830ed5ce0193dfcc.jpg) without caption of her daughter sitting in a Target shopping cart while Steve pushed her, a bemused smile on his face as Alice hammed it up for the camera. Later in the evening Steve sent her a [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/bb/3f/02/bb3f02113805d4e5737fd50a14e56e62.jpg) of Alice enthusiastically eating spaghetti and meatballs. He just added a short message of, “ _She ate three plates.”_

For the rest of the week leading up to the trio reaching California Darcy received no more S.O.S. texts or calls, just pictures that chronicled the thawing of her daughter’s heart towards her father and the relationship they were starting to build. Steve took an awesome [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/2e/b9/83/2eb9832ae41c6c3d88e48acd051ebeb9.jpg) of the first time Alice tried pizza. Clint took a beautiful picture of her daughter without make up and still looking far too beautiful for words. There were [pictures](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ed/f5/ea/edf5ea9cf9f8149bdcbfd37536ac27f2.jpg) of them shopping in grocery stores and convenience stores and ice cream trucks. And one adorable one of her [daughter](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/9c/b1/6d/9cb16df3a47e9dbb353b60efddcfd9f5.jpg) riding an animatronics elephant in a mall somewhere. 

With every picture she received her heart swelled with love and pride and hope. It felt like the pieces of her life were finally coming together the way she wanted them to and part of her was so afraid something terrible was going to happen to ruin it all.  
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At the end of the week, as she was packing up to get on a plane to finally meet her son and daughter for the first time, she received a picture from Clint of Alice laughing genuinely and Steve making a stupid face. Under the [photo](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e4/db/b3/e4dbb31acb339b3f55069aab48612795.jpg) it read _“He finally made her laugh, on purpose.”_

Steve sent a long text a couple minutes’ later saying, “ _We’ve made good time and will probably reach the mansion by tonight. Our ETA will have us reaching home in the middle of the night, so Alice will probably only get to meet Bucky and Sam. Should I keep her out of the house so you can be there for her first meeting with Maria-Sarah and Winn?”_

_“No.”_ She texted back quickly. _“Don’t be silly.”_

Steve sent a thumbs up emoji and she sent one back. As she stared at the screen three dots appeared showing Steve was writing, but then they disappeared and he didn’t send anything, which was so annoying! A few seconds the dots reappeared and then the text came through. _“I love her.”_

Steve then sent a [picture](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/00/66/e6/0066e69fc3acc4b82be094fffca61ccf.jpg) of Alice on top of a roof with Cheshire in the background. She was looking over her shoulder at the person taking the picture, it was an exquisite candid shot and she quickly pressed the button to download the image. She would definitely be printing and framing the picture in the future. 

Along with the photo Steve sent the message, “ _Thank you. Thank you for giving me this week to get to know our daughter. Thank you for knowing we would need a buffer and sending Clint along. Thank you for being a wonderful mother who raised such a beautiful and intelligent young lady, Alice is more than remarkable. I know waiting this week to finally meet Maria-Sarah and Winn must have been hard for you and I appreciate the sacrifice. I know things are messed up, but I love you. I will always love you. And our family.”_

And that’s when she knew it was all going to be okay.

Tony found her crying in the closet clutching her phone. “Oh honey,” He swooped in and picked her up, carrying her to an ottoman wear he sat and cradled her in his arms. “What happened?” 

Overcome with emotion, crying and unable to communicate she thrust her phone in his face and rested her head on his shoulder as she tried to get control of herself. Tony quickly read the message and tossed the phone to the floor. 

She could tell he understood exactly how she felt from the way his body relaxed under hers. Happy. Hopeful. Optimistic. Tony held her and kissed her softly all over her face until she finally calmed down enough to speak.

“I love you Tony.” 

Tony leaned in and kissed her lips passionately. She sighed into the kiss accepting his tongue into her mouth as he grew more heated and his hands began tugging at her clothes. The boys were running around the penthouse getting ready to leave for the airport, so they had to be quiet least they come to investigate. The sex was quick but ardent and exactly what she needed at that moment. 

Sweaty and tired and half dressed, Tony took into the shower and he got down on his knees and he brought her to orgasm two more times before they truly got washed up and calmed down. 

“Sir,” Jarvis’s voice sounded from above as they wrapped themselves in towels, “Incom--.” 

Zoran burst into the room cutting off Jarvis’s warning. “MOM!” 

Darcy stared at her son with a bemused expression, slightly flushing in the face at the thought of almost being caught ‘in the act’ by her youngest. “What?” She prompted when he didn’t say anything further.

Zoran looked at her blankly before tilting his head and then declaring, “I forgot.” 

With a burst of wind he disappeared and Tony said, “Well that could have been--”

She held up a hand saying, “Wait for it.” 

Not one second later Zoran returned shouting, “MOM!” 

“Yes?” She asked with a smile.

“I remembered what I wanted to ask you.” He said as he drew closer and lifted his arms silently asking to be held. Scooping him up easily she humored him saying, “Yes?” 

With a very serious expression Zoran said, “Do they have the snowed cones in Malibus? A’cause if they don’t I don’t wanna go.” 

Darcy let out a laugh and pressed her warm face into his nuzzling their noses together. “Yes. They have snow cones in Malibu.” 

“Okay.” He sighed putting his head on her shoulder. Sticking his thumb in his mouth he said, “The Jarface says the car will be here in ten minutes to pick us up.” 

“Tired?” She asked as she carried him into the bedroom and laid him down on her and Tony’s bed. 

“No.” Zoran lied as he snuggled into the pillows. “Tyr said I shouldn’t sleeps until we gets on the plane a’cause its gonna take forever to get to Malibus and being trapped with awake me would be annoying.”

Darcy snickered into her hand before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her son’s temple. “Don’t worry baby, it won’t take forever and being trapped with you is always fun. Awake or not.” 

Zoran pouted, “I’s not a baby mommy.” 

She said nothing in return just retreated quietly to the closet to get dressed.  
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Pulling up in front of the Malibu Mansion fifteen hours later was a surreal experience for Darcy. During the flight they had to touch down and hang out in a small town airport for six extra hours due to a rogue storm. The inconvenience was maddening and she cursed like a sailor off and on for the duration of their impromptu delay. 

The extenuating circumstances also had a ripple effect on her scheduled reunions. Apparently Maria-Sarah threw an extreme tantrum when she was told going to the beach was not an option because they were supposed to stay at the house waiting to meet Darcy. And for some asinine reason Steve gave into a three year olds demands! 

When he called and told her this, he did of course offer to put his foot down but in the background she could hear Alice and Maria-Sarah chattering about the beach excitedly. Put into the position of being the ‘bad’ mom who wouldn’t let her girls have any fun without her, Darcy told them to go and have fun. 

And so, when Darcy and Tony and the boys finally arrived the mansion was quiet and almost completely empty. Hence the unsettled butterflies in her gut as she took in sight of her new old home. "It looks different." She observed, "Wider?" 

"And taller." Tony answered. "I added another floor last year for Steve and Bucky, to entice them to..." He shook his head before continuing with renewed bravado. "And I had some guys come in this week to get the place ready for you and the new kids. Including expand the property to build a stable for the flying horse, he said somehow with a straight face."

Darcy looked over at Tony, she could see the pain he was trying to hide, it was in his tense jaw and steely eyes, he was trying not to show weakness. A glance over at her sons and she thought she knew why. Not wanting to draw attention to Tony's inner turmoil, she grinned and poked him in his side. "Define 'get the place ready'." 

Tony smiled at her with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Evasively he answered only, "You'll see." 

She would freely admit her curiosity was piqued as Tony was the king of thoughtfulness and she loved him for it, but there was no telling how over the top he went until she got a look inside. 

“Hey!” Happy called out in greeting as he came out the house and opened the car door for her. When he saw her he smiled brightly and said, "Miss Lewis!" 

“Happy!” She all but fell into his arms, tiredly hugging the man. “It’s so good to be home.” 

Happy chuckled and patted her back before pushing her politely off of him. “You look wonderful.” He complimented as he moved past her to help with the bags.

She called out after him, “I look like crap!”

Tony was by her side in a second countering, “You never look like crap.” He kissed her lips briefly before surprising her and lifting her into his arms bridal style.

Laughing she kicked her feet and exclaimed, “Tony! Stop! You’ll throw your back out.” 

“Is that a crack about my age?” He teased as he carried her over the threshold only to place her on her feet once they were in the foyer.

“Come on Zoran,” Tyr called as he carried in a small duffle bag, “Let us explore our new modest home.” 

Tony eyed him, “Is that a crack about my architecture.” 

Tyr gave him a blank look as he explained, “You do realize I grew up in a palace, correct?”

“It’s not like this is a shack under the freeway.” He grumbled as Zoran zoomed past them with Chip barking and trailing behind excitedly.

Darcy looked at her dog and wondered aloud, “Chip looks really wound up, I wonder if he recognizes the place?” 

“Come Chip.” Tyr whistled and the dog trotted obediently after him. “Let us make sure Zoran doesn’t break our new meager accommodations.” 

Darcy looked around the hallway, taking a step forward she hesitated. 

“What?” Tony asked. 

“I don’t know.” She said as she stepped back to stand at his side, “Just feel a little awkward.” 

Tony wrapped his arms around her waist. “Awkward how?” 

She linked her hands behind his neck. “Awkward like…” She let her words trail off because she knew if she told Tony she felt like a stranger in her own home he wouldn’t take it well. “Never mind.” 

She broke away from him so she could get out of Happy’s way as he brought in two of their suitcases. “Hey boss, don’t tell me you packed car parts in your luggage again? These things weigh a ton.” 

“I did a lot of online shopping the past week, to ya know, kill time and uh--” Darcy admitted before biting her lip. “My fault, Hap. Sorry.” 

Darcy did not miss the glare Tony sent Happy’s way. However the affable man seemed unaffected as he responded, “Nothing to be sorry about Miss Lewis. Of course you would need to buy some new things given the additions about to join the household.”

“Yeah,” Tony said dismissively, “Hap put all the bags in the master bedroom except for the green one and the blue ones. They go in the boys rooms.” 

“You got it boss.” Happy said with a nod, before returning to the car for more bags. 

“Sir, Master Edwin has just entered REM cycle.” Jarvis informed them. 

Darcy pouted and tugged on Tony’s shirt sleeve. “Does that mean what I think it means?” 

“Naptime.” Tony confirmed with a nod. 

Disappointed that her homecoming was not going as smoothly as she pictured, she grabbed Tony and pulled him closer letting her head fall to his chest. Being stuck in a tiny and crappy airport for hours on end had left her exhausted. And frankly the only thing that had kept her from passing out or dissolving into tears had been the hope of finally reunited with her lost children.

“I know.” Tony said soothingly as he rubbed circles into her back. “I know.”  
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Tony led her into the kitchen and made her sit down at the table and take off her shoes. On his knees before her he took one foot into his hands and began manipulating her flesh making her moan. The corner of his lips tipped up, prideful, at the reaction. “What do you want to do?” He asked as he continued to massage her feet. “Wake the kid up? Crash in the bedroom for a nap? I know you did not sleep at all in those uncomfortable waiting chairs, because I didn’t. Or we could call Steve and the others and have them come back early. Hmm? Darce, tell me and I’ll make it happen.” 

“Or we could eat?” Tyr said, popping up in the doorway with Zoran and Chip in tow. “If this pantry is not stocked as pitifully as your New York residence.” 

Tony rolled his eyes and got to his feet. Putting a hand on the back of her chair he stared her son down. “I told you kid, in New York you don’t need a full kitchen because it’s the land of take out and fine dining.” 

Zoran zoomed over to her and climbed into her lap, he had a framed photograph in his hands. “Where the other doggies?” He asked as he shoved the photo at her face. Behind her Tony moved over to the fridge and gestured over to Tyr silently asking for the young man’s help with putting some food together. 

Darcy took it from him and inhaled sharply as she saw it was a picture of her and Tony and Steve from after they had just adopted [the dogs](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/90/ce/b0/90ceb0d0cc597fa74272aa7f847b8349.jpg). Her heart ached as she let her fingers glide over the images of Brook, Winnie, Chip, and King. She tapped the image of puppy Chip and showed it to her son. “This one’s Chip.” 

“REALLY!?” Zoran snatched the photo away from her and squinted at it thoughtfully. “But he’s so little!” He pointed to King, “Isn’t that Chip? He looks more like him.” He hopped off her lap and zipped over to Chip, he held the picture next to the dogs face for comparison. “See!” He told her gleefully as he zoomed back to her lap and waved the picture excitedly. 

“No honey.” She gently took the picture out of his hand and set it up to stand in front of them on kitchen table. “That,” She pointed to the older dog in the photograph, “That’s Chips dad. King. He had a prosthetic leg and he was a really good boy.” 

Sticking his thumb in his mouth Zoran looked at her with his big blue eyes and said, “Where is he?” 

“He’s gone.” Tony said, jumping into the conversation as he put a sandwich on a plate in front of her child. He paused to kiss the top of her head and pat her shoulder. He’d told her of the tragic fate of King and Winnie earlier in the week. “He died of old age kid, happens to everything eventually.” 

“Not Chip though!” Zoran insisted even as he picked up his sandwich and took a big bite. “Rig- Tyr?” He looked to his big brother for confirmation of his dogs immunity from aging and death.

Tyr came over with two plates in his hands. He set one down in front of Darcy and one next to her as he sat down with them. He did not sugar coat his words but he did speak with kindness in his voice. “One day Chip will get old and die, just like you and me and dad and mom and every other living being in the universe. Death is a part of life and it is inevitable.” 

Zoran chewed thoughtfully. “But Chippy ated the apples.” 

Tyr smiled softly and patted his brother on the back. “Yeah, he did.” 

“That means he won’t go away and die for a long, long time. Right mama?” 

Darcy pressed a kiss to her innocent boys forehead and nodded. “That’s right baby.” 

From behind Tony picked up Zoran and put him in a seat next to his brother, this caused Zoran to yell out an indignant ‘hey’ but he did not protest the move beyond that. Tony sat next to her and pushed her sandwich closer encouraging, “You never eat when he’s in your lap. You need to keep your strength up.” 

Tyr nodded agreeing. “He’s right mother, you baby Zoran too much and forget yourself.” 

“I’m not a baby!” Zoran exclaimed at the same time she denied, “I do not.” 

“Eat your sandwich.” Tony encouraged as he got to his feet once again. “I’ll get drinks.” 

Tyr brought her attention back to the photographs of them and the dogs. He pointed to Winnie with his pinkie, “Is that the one your man Stark said died in a tragic collision with one of the metal vehicles?” 

Darcy nodded sadly and bit into her sandwich so she wouldn’t have to speak and potentially start crying. When Tony said Winnie got hit by a car and died when the kids were two years old, Darcy had a meltdown. First he told her about King and then to hear that Winnie died in her absence as well? It was a very sad morning. In a moment of bitterness Tony blamed Steve for the accident; he’d been preoccupied with an intense emotional discussion with Bucky. Winnie had slipped somehow untied the knot of her leash around the bench and escaped. 

“Darcy picked her out.” Tony informed the boys as he set down cold glasses of water in front of each of them. “When we went to the shelter we all fell in love with one of the pups, Darcy saw Winnie and just fell in love. Only later on did we discover what a smart pain in the ass husky dogs were. In the end Winnie became more of Steve’s dog than Darcy’s. She bonded closely with Brook,” He pointed to the grey Great Dane in the picture, “Especially after saving the dogs life.” 

“Mama saveded her doggies life?” Zoran asked as he finished gobbling up his food. “How?!” 

She looked pointedly at Tony as she took another bite from her sandwich. Silently conveying her desire for him to keep talking instead of her. 

Tony ran a hand down her back and she leaned into his touch as she ate and he talked. “We have a pool out back. Thought all dogs naturally knew how to swim, turns out that’s not exactly true. Especially puppies.” 

“It drowned?” Tyr asked looking sad.

“Almost.” Tony acknowledged. “Darcy saved her though. Dived in. Gave her CPR.”

“Wow!” Zoran awed. “Mama, that’s so cool.” 

She smiled at her son and nodded, though the memory brought up feelings of panic and sorrow and deficiency more than…whatever Zoran was thinking. 

Sensing this maybe, Tony said, “Having a pets a big responsibility. And Brook’s gotten huge while your mom’s been away. We all pitch in to take care of her, and now with Chips return they’ll be more work to go around.” He eyed Zoran speculatively, “You willing to do your part kid?” 

Jumping up on the seat Zoran exclaimed “OF COURSE!”

Tony smiled at the comical reaction. “Good.”  
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After lunch Zoran and Darcy were flagging. He was a little boy and she a pregnant woman; by two o’clock both of them were ready for a nap. She was grateful to Tyr when he scooped up his little brother and took him away following Jarvis’s quiet directions to the room Tony had designated as Zoran’s. She had every confidence that Tyr would tuck him in for a nap and sit by his side to read for an hour or two. And with Chip following after him, Tony and Darcy were left alone. 

Tony offered to carry her and she took him up on it. Resting her head on his shoulder she took in all the big and little differences to the houses décor along the way. There was an insanely large painting of her in the living room above the fireplace. He’d had the walls in the hallway repainted a warm grey color. Some of the knick knacks she remembered adding here and there were replaced or missing. And there were photo’s everywhere.

Mostly of the kids. Looking at all the little moments she missed over the years, she became emotional but tried to hide it from Tony. However when they went past a door with the name “Winn” spelled out in tiny hot wheel cars she let out a whimpering sound. 

“Honey?” 

Looking up at Tony with glassy eyes she whispered, “Can I see him?” 

Tony’s whole face changed. It softened and grew sad and she tightened her hands around his neck. “He sleeps like the dead and takes three and half hour naps if I let him. Of course you can see him.”

Backing up Tony opened the door to their son’s bedroom quietly and she found the place illuminated with the afternoon sunlight filtered through Lightening McQueen curtains. The first thing that struck her was that the room had one theme: cars. There were cars in picture frames, a road pained onto the wall, various Hot Wheels scattered about the floor like confetti, and even a little gas station book shelf. And in the center of the room lay her son in a sports car [bed](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c0/f6/bd/c0f6bdec4bff4184141f24ffe553a98b.jpg). 

“So,” She attempted to joke. “I guess he likes cars?” 

Tony chuckled as he carefully navigated the treacherous toy strewn floor. “You could say that.” 

As they got closer to her sleeping baby they both fell quiet. Tony perched on the end of the bed and she got her first really good look at her son, [Winn](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1e/9f/bc/1e9fbcc6dc05ce9a6e48e4a3b4c2adc0.jpg). He had light brown hair that almost looked blonde, which was weird as both she and Tony were dark haired. However, his face was a replica’s of his father’s. 

“Oh, Tony.” She whispered as she brushed a hand through her son’s hair for the first time. “He’s beautiful.” 

Tony pressed a kiss to her temple and whispered, “All thanks to you.” 

She snorted at that. “He’s literally your mini-me. I look like I have nothing to do with this angel.” There was no bitterness in her words though. He had a cute button nose and the same teasing precocious smile Tony had. He was adorable and she was half tempted to shake him awake so she could start getting to know him. 

“He may have my looks, but he has your heart.” Tony said as he stood up, taking her away. 

“But--”

“C’mon. I promise he’s more interesting when he’s conscious. And you are too.”  
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Tony was right. After a brief nap, Darcy took a quick shower and put on the outfit she had especially picked out for her reintroduction to her children. It was Wizard of Oz inspired, of course, but she really went the extra mile with her appearance in other ways. She styled her hair and used a shit ton of hair spray to ensure it would stay, she applied makeup with as much expert precision as she could muster and finally [dressed and ready,](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1b/62/9a/1b629a7e2a80b93b7c1a098565d2c56c.jpg) she left the bedroom to meet her son. 

While she dressed Tony tended to their son, telling him of her arrival and getting him equally ready to meet her. (Which apparently meant making sure he went to the bathroom and ate a small snack.) She had Jarvis check on Tyr and Zoran who were being kept out of the initial meeting to keep from overwhelming the young boy on this momentous occasion. Her other boys were apparently entranced in the movie room watching, “Daniel Tigers Neighborhood.” Tyr was interested in the animation while the content was more on Zoran’s level. Jarvis said they were fine and passed along her praise for keeping out of trouble. 

And then, with nothing left to occupy her she went to find Tony. 

He was leaning against the wall outside the living room chewing on a fingernail. Inside Winn was playing with some toys awaiting her arrival. He jumped off the wall as she came into sight. “You look beautiful.” He declared as she made her approach. 

“I’m sweating profusely.” She admitted flatly making him laugh. Overhead in a soft tone Jarvis informed them he was adjusting the temperature of the room to 65 degrees. 

Tony grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles promising, “He’ll love you.” 

“He’ll love me.” She repeated like a mantra. 

Tony and she entered the room holding hands and the boy inside looked up at the noise. Tony gave him an easy smile. “Hey buddy, look who’s finally here.” 

Winn was sitting on the floor in front of the [couch](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/96/cb/8c/96cb8c3bc54f93ed4176f5659afe21fd.jpg) where roads of tape had been constructed all over the furniture and floor for him to drive his toy cars. He fiddled with the car in his hands nervously. “Hullo.” 

Clutching Tony’s hand even tighter she offered her son a small wave. “Hi Winn. I’m your—I’m Darcy.” 

“Your mother.” Tony said pointedly. “This is your mom.” 

Winn looked at his dad with furrowed eyebrows. “I know who she is, you told me she was here and we say goodnight to her picture every night daddy.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said chagrin, “I know.” 

The little boy got to his feet and stared at her. She didn’t know what to say, instinctually she wanted to grab him up in her arms and never let him go again, but that wasn’t right. Instead she said, “I like your car.” 

Winn brightened a little. He held the toy out for her to look at. “It’s a 1973 pink Superfine Turbine. Maria-Sarah always tries to steal it cause it’s pink and she loves pink, but I don’t care that it’s pink. I just like it cause the engine’s exposed.” 

“Uh, neat.” She said, a little thrown by how verbose Winn was at only three year old. 

Winn giggled and looked to Tony. “Daddy she says neat ‘just’ like Uncle Stevie.” 

“She’s a dork.” Tony said casually. “It comes with the territory.” 

She snapped at Tony sharply, “Did you just tell my son I’m a dork?” Tony’s eyes widened as if he was unsure if she was joking or not, in all honesty she wasn’t sure either. 

“Daddy’s a big nerd.” Winn offered, stemming what he probably thought was the beginnings of a fight. “If you say it with love then, uh, Daddy says it’s okay.” 

That made her smile, because it was such a Tony thing to say to a kid. “Is that so?” She eyed Tony up and down. “I think you’re right Winn, Tony is a big nerd. However, I maintain that I am not a dork.” 

Tony smiled back at her, “You have a hot air balloon purse hanging off your wrist sweetheart. You’re the biggest dork in the universe and I love you for it.” 

That made her laugh and when Tony darted in for a quick kiss she didn’t even think about denying him. “You’re the worst.” She told him playfully. 

“You’re the best.” Tony replied automatically. He was staring at her all gooey like and she couldn’t help but steal a quick peck on the lips herself. Putting a hand on his cheek she whispered, “I love you.” 

He didn’t reply verbally but pressed a kiss to her palm before taking her hand and lacing their fingers together.

“You love my daddy?” Winn asked tentatively. “For real and forever? Like Uncle Rhodey and Auntie Pepper and Happy and Jarvis? They—they love my daddy lots. They take care of me when he’s working and—daddy said you are going to live here again?”

Turning back to her son she let go of Tony’s hand and got a little closer to Winn. Crouching down she put herself at eye level with Winn. In a serious voice she told him, “I love your daddy so much that sometimes it comes exploding out of my face.” 

This made him giggle and Darcy suppressed the urge to cry. She’d made her son laugh for the first time and it felt like such a victory. She shifted to perch on the edge of the couch, careful to not disturb the cars there, she assured her son further. “Yes. Like you said, I love Tony for real and forever. I love you too, Winn. And as long as you’ll both have me, I’d like to live here with my family and call this place home once again.” 

She longed to reach out and grab up this little boy who was a part of her, but she held back. She could sense right away that Winn was unlike any of her other children; he was quieter and more calculated and perhaps more timid. It could be due to him being more intellectual than emotional, or maybe it was just the stress of the moment, but she could tell the child was holding back from forming any snap opinions about her. He was also obviously skeptical about her motives. 

“You’re sure you’re not going to--” Her sons eyes darted nervously back to Tony. “You said she was going to stay here? Live in the house with us and Uncle Stevie and Uncle Bucky and Maria-Sarah and Brooke. Not just visit. But stay forever?”

She could hear it in his voice. Her son thought she was going to hurt Tony, break his heart by leaving again. Or perhaps like Steve already had. Her heart squeezed as if in a vice for the pain her family had been through while she was elsewhere. The fact that he neither listed Steve or Bucky as the people who most loved Tony did not go unnoticed by her earlier. She couldn’t help but resent the emotional damage that Steve had inflicted on her son, but despair that in the end it all came down to her absence and thus she was the one truly at fault.

“I…” She reached out to touch Winn’s shoulders, intending to recapture his attention physically before speaking, but the unexpected touch of her hand made him jump and jerk away from her slightly. She pulled her hand back to her body like it had been scalded. Panicking a little she looked to Tony.

“Hey buddy.” Tony began smoothly, he took three steps forward and then he had Winn in his arms and settled on his lap as he took up a space next to her on the couch. “Darcy is your mommy; she loves you. I’ve told you about her a million times and she’s finally here. You don’t have to be happy to see her; you don’t have to love her right away. You can take your time and get to know her. But buddy trust me--you don’t need to be afraid of her.” 

Winn buried his face in Tony’s shoulder mumbling, “I’m not afraid.” 

“I am.” Darcy admitted peaking her son’s interest. “I’m very afraid of you.” 

Winn turned his face out of Tony’s body and looked at her with an inquisitive expression. “But I’m just a kid? Why would you be afraid of me?” 

“You’re not just a kid, you’re _my_ kid. You’re a piece of me that’s been missing for a very long time and I…missed you. And I know that’s weird because I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but it’s true. And now that we’re here, together again, I’m scared you won’t like me. Or I’ll say something dumb. Or Tony will leave the room and it’ll just be you and me and I won’t be able to think of anything to say.” 

Winn gave her a small encouraging smile. “Daddy says I never run out of things to say.” 

“He literally talked for an hour about the days of the week.” Tony informed her as he tickled Winn’s belly making him shriek with laughter. The closeness between the pair was obvious and Darcy was at once both filled with jealousy and delight to see such a display. 

She figured the easiest way to start building a rapport with her child was to play to his strengths. Looking around the couch and floor she surveyed all the toys and when one caught her eye she grabbed it up and held it out to Winn with flair. “I don’t know much about cars,” She volunteered, “But I like this one. Can you teach me how to play with it?” 

Winn snatched the car from her hand and jumped out of Tony’s arms. He then started shoving at Tony’s legs muttering, “Move, move, move!” 

“Way to use your manners buddy.” Tony teased even as he moved according to his son’s directions. Winn spread his hands out smoothing the wrinkles on the couch that Tony’s butt had caused, and then he pointed to the tape roadway.

He looked up at her with a very serious expression, “This is the road.” He held up the toy car, “This is the car.” He put the car on the [couch](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/96/cb/8c/96cb8c3bc54f93ed4176f5659afe21fd.jpg) in between the two pieces of tape. He rolled the car back and forth slowly demonstrating its abilities. “You roll the car along the road and try not to crash and die because there is a tiny driver inside and its you.” 

Darcy blinked at his explanation. “Okay.” Winn held out the car to her and she took it. “I think I can handle that.” 

Her eyes flickered over to Tony as she stood up and toed off her shoes so she could kneel on the floor and be on the same level as her son. Tony shrugged, “He likes to watch NASCAR.” 

Rolling her eyes she put her car on the road and immediately rolled it too hard so it flipped off the ‘road’ (couch) and crashed onto the floor down below. “Oh no!” She exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, “I’ve crashed and died in a fiery car explosion!” 

“NO!” Winn exploded excitedly, “That’s not what I told you!” 

He picked up the car and rolled it on the road slowly, “See. You have to do it nice and slow or else you spin out of control and ‘splode.” 

“What if the car wants to go fast?” She questioned as she took the car back and followed her son’s instruction driving the car along the taped up couch’s roadway slowly. 

“You’re not allowed to go fast.” He grabbed up a cop car and pointed it at her, “It’s against the law.” 

Darcy made her little car fly into the air and placed it on top of her head. In a dead serious voice she told him, “I parked my car on the moon.” 

Winn shrieked and made to grab the car off her head yelling, “You’re not the moon!” 

But she tumbled back and out of his reach, grabbing the car as fell off she made it drive across her face and then down her arm all the while blocking Winn’s attempts to take it away from her. “Now my car is driving along the Arm Speedway.” 

“That’s silly!” Winn declared, “Cars drive on roads!” She let the car transfer from her arm to her leg then let it go onto Tony’s leg prompting him to take over with her eyes. 

“Daddy!” Winn screeched happily as Tony continued with her game of driving the car along his limbs. 

“Can’t talk now buddy, cars driving along the Pants Pavilion.” 

Darcy brought her hot air balloon purse down slowly onto Tony’s knee. “Oh, no. There’s an obstruction in the road, watch out! Rogue ballooner gone amok!” 

“Oh no!” Winn cried out as he rolled his police car up Tony’s leg and then jumped it onto the side of her balloon purse. “I’ll pop the balloon and clear the road for the responsible drivers!” 

Darcy slipped the tie off her wrist and let the balloon fall to the side, declaring, “Oh goodie. It’s dead now.” 

“Cars and balloons can’t die mo—“ Winn paused and looked up at her face, there was a smile frozen there, but she saw a hint of fear in his eyes as he asked, “Can I—should I call you mommy?” 

Hoping to keep the light mood going, she smiled at him and said, “Well, it’d be pretty weird if you called me Grandpa.” 

This made her son grin at her showing off his pearly white teeth. 

“Grandpa.” He echoed before making car sounds and using his car to drive up her arm and park on the top of her head. He looked down into her eyes and told her with a cheeky smirk, “Mommy. The cops are parked on the moon.”  
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Steve’s First S.O.S. Text  
  
Clint taught her how to Selfie  
  
Text Image Montage  
  
Finally Made Her Laugh  
  
Thank You  
  
Winn’s Room  
  
Anthony Edwin “Winn” Stark  
  
Darcy Meet’s Her Son Outfit  
  
Puppy Reminder  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry to kill some of the dogs, but like, that's life. And also, I made Chip almost immortal and gave Alice a pet pegasus.  
> Next chapter Darcy will meet up with (most noteably) Bucky and Steve and Maria-Sarah.  
> Also Also, Winn's picture is of a tiny Robert Downey Jr. And headcannon is that he's blondeish beecause of Maria Stark's recessive blonde genes.


	17. Chapter 17 – New Old Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy gets used to her new old home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ************** Last chapter I forgot something so I added it in to the beginning of this chapter so....yeah
> 
> Also sorry for no update last week, this chapter was a monster. HOWEVER I think it came out pretty good in the end. We get some major plot stuff and fun stuff and pretty stuff.  
> so enjoy!

Chapter 17 – New Old Home  
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(start)***********************************************Edited paragraph from last chapter (start)  
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Pulling up in front of the Malibu Mansion fifteen hours later was a surreal experience for Darcy. During the flight they had to touch down and hang out in a small town airport for six extra hours due to a rogue storm. The inconvenience was maddening and she cursed like a sailor off and on for the duration of their impromptu delay.  
The extenuating circumstances also had a ripple effect on her scheduled reunions. Apparently Maria-Sarah threw an extreme tantrum when she was told going to the beach was not an option because they were supposed to stay at the house waiting to meet Darcy. And for some asinine reason Steve gave into a three year olds demands!  
When he called and told her this, he did of course offer to put his foot down but in the background she could hear Alice and Maria-Sarah chattering about the beach excitedly. Put into the position of being the ‘bad’ mom who wouldn’t let her girls have any fun without her, Darcy told them to go and have fun.  
And so, when Darcy and Tony and the boys finally arrived the mansion was quiet and almost completely empty. Hence the unsettled butterflies in her gut as she took in sight of her new old home. "It looks different." She observed, "Wider?"  
"And taller." Tony answered. "I added another floor last year for Steve and Bucky, to entice them to..." He shook his head before continuing with renewed bravado. "And I had some guys come in this week to get the place ready for you and the new kids. Including expanding the property to build a stable for the flying horse, he said somehow with a straight face."  
Darcy looked over at Tony, she could see the pain he was trying to hide, it was in his tense jaw and steely eyes, he was trying not to show weakness. A glance over at her sons and she thought she knew why. Not wanting to draw attention to Tony's inner turmoil, she grinned and poked him in his side. "Define 'get the place ready'."  
Tony smiled at her with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Evasively he answered only, "You'll see."  
She would freely admit her curiosity was piqued as Tony was the king of thoughtfulness and she loved him for it, but there was no telling how over the top he went until she got a look inside.  
“Hey!” Happy called out in greeting as he came out the house and opened the car door for her. When he saw her he smiled brightly and said, "Miss Lewis!"  
“Happy!” She all but fell into his arms, tiredly hugging the man. “It’s so good to be home.”  
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(end)************************************************Edited paragraph from last chapter (end)

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Chapter 17 – New Old Home

“Sir, a situation has arisen--” Jarvis tried to warn them before Zoran entered the room with a burst of speed that startled Winn and left him scrambling into Tony’s arms.

“Ah!” Winn exclaimed as Zoran smiled at them before circling the room with his super speed, seemingly taking stock of the new surroundings. 

“I guess the situation has arrived, J?” Tony said glibly. 

“I suppose that’s one way of putting it.” Jarvis answered sounding beleaguered. “However that isn’t what I was referring to--”

Zoran stopped his whirlwind exploration and interrupted Jarvis with an excited expression on his face. “Hi new brudder! I’m Zoran. The Jarface in the ceiling told me you and mama were playing and not having ‘motional discussions anymores so I came to say hi.” He waved at Winn with vigor. “So hi!” 

Winn looked at once both terrified and fascinated with the tiny five year old before them. 

“Brother?” He looked searchingly at Tony but before his father could respond Zoran zoomed to stand at Tony’s feet, presumably to be closer to the boy he was speaking too. Winn flinched and clutched at Tony’s neck, alarm in his eyes. However her speedster son didn’t seem to register the adverse reaction as he stared up at the pair. 

“Yeah!” Zoran said with a little jump. “And you have another brudder too. But Tyr’s older an’ less fun than me. He’s always reading and never wants to play games unless they have educationing values. So I made sure I gotted here first to meetcha so you knows who to like better.” 

Zoran was just trying to be friendly and she found it endearing even if his efforts seemed to be a little problematic judging by Winn’s reaction. With no heat in her voice she said her son’s name warningly. “Zoran.”

Guileless Zoran quirked his head at her and asked, “What?”

The cute expression on his face was her undoing. “Nothing. I love you. You’re adorable.” 

Zoran half covered his mouth and pointed at Winn, “Mama, not in front of the new brudder. I’m finally not the littlest anymores! I’m da big brudder now.” 

She scooped him up in her arms and nuzzled her face into his causing him to shriek and laugh. When she began to kiss him all over his face, ruining his street cred, he called out playfully, “Stop! Stop! No more kisses! Noooo!” 

“Okay, okay.” Settling him on her hip she smoothed down a hair that stuck out of place before changing the subject. “And just where is your big brother? Hmm?” She tapped him on the nose playfully. “Did you ditch him outright or did you wait until he went to the bathroom?” 

“There’s no reason to be afraid buddy. This is your half brother.” Tony quietly explained. Winn didn’t look all that reassured. 

“He runs abnormally fast.” Winn said with a timid look. “Was he experimented on like Uncle Steve and Bucky?” 

“What’s ‘abnormally’ mean, mama?” Zoran questioned with a look on his on his face that said he didn’t know if he should be offended or not. Darcy was once again struck by the notion that Winn had a very advanced vocabulary for a three year old. She suspected he’d not only inherited Tony’s looks but his big brain as well, which was not all together a bad thing, but she had to remind herself to not assume anything about what the three year old could understand. 

“It means not normal.” Winn explained seeming a little more at ease, but still cautious. 

“No.” She answered Winn’s previous question, making sure to make eye contact so he would know she wasn’t lying. “Zoran wasn’t experimented on. He was born with his speed. My boys, all my boys are special. Some are just flashier than others.” 

She smiled at Winn warmly and he seemed to relax for which she was grateful. However a second later he was tensing back up as Tyr skidded into the door and then entered with an angry look on his face. He was also sopping wet and covered in dirt and leaves and grass. In a word he looked hilarious. 

Zoran laughed with impish glee as he took in his brothers disheveled and winded appearance. “You look silly Tyr!” 

“You,” Tyr wheezed, “Little monster.”

“I tricked you! Ha ha, Tyr!” Zoran announced.

Tyr didn’t bother addressing his brother; he looked at her and pointed accusingly at Zoran. “He sprayed me with a wind machine that got me all dirty and locked me in a closet and then barricaded the door!” 

“Zoran!” Darcy said, this time with real authority. Zoran’s mood shifted immediately into remorse as she put him down on his feet and folded her arms in front of her chest to appear more intimidating. “You did what, young man?” 

“Is just a joke.” Zoran mumbled with his eyes averted to the ground.

“I had to break down the door because the voice could not automatically release me.” Tyr snarled with annoyance, “I broke a bunch of furniture, slipped and fell into the pool, and—and it is all his fault! Mother, I should not suffer punishment for causing destruction for it was Zoran who incited--”

“Shh Tyr, of course you won’t get in trouble for breaking some stuff.” She consoled as she moved closer to her older son and took him by the hand, leading him to step into the room more fully, she brushed off his shoulders and finger combed his hair trying to rid him of the debris clinging to his person. Darcy was grateful that her son was so mature as she could tell Tyr truly was angry about what Zoran had done to him. She herself wasn’t pleased either. ”Are you hurt honey?” 

“No.” Tyr spit out grumpily. “I am unharmed.” 

“Jarvis?” Tony questioned.

“Young master Zoran moves very quickly,” Jarvis said almost defensively, “Though if you do remember I did warn you a situation had arisen that needed your attention.” 

“Next time, warn harder.” Darcy instructed with an edge.

“Yes Miss Darcy.” 

“Which door did the kid break?” Tony asked sounding remarkably calm about the minor destruction of his home. “Outside I assume?” 

“Yes sir. The gardening and pool supply shed.” Jarvis responded, “Young master Zoran first found the leaf blower and after that, things escalated quickly. Once he’d trapped Master Tyr in the room he barricaded the door with various patio furniture and left several obstacles in his wake. The bulk of which was destroyed in Master Tyr’s escape.” 

Darcy raised a questioning brow at her son. Tyr blushed and mumbled under his breath, “I might have gotten a little carried away.” 

She patted him on the back and then turned the full force of her ‘mom’ gaze on Zoran. “And what do you have to say for yourself?” 

“Sorry.” Zoran said just barely audible.

“That’s all?” She prompted.

“But--” Zoran couldn’t suppress his smile completely as he said, “It was a really _really_ funny joke. Don’tcha think mama?” 

Darcy frowned; she wasn’t sure if Zoran was acting out because of the upheaval of change in their lives or if he was just being his precocious little self. Either way she would not have him continue on under the impression that _everything_ in their lives had changed. “No dessert.”

“Aw, mama! But--”

“For a week.” She said with an air of finality.

“That’s not fair!” Zoran shouted and stomped his foot. “It’s just a joke!” 

She knelt down and grabbed for his hand. Pulling him closer she looked into his eyes and spoke in a measured calm tone. “It was not just a joke, it was mean. And you could have hurt your brother. You know the rules; actions have consequences, that hasn’t changed just because we moved to another planet and your father’s not here. You did something wrong and so you must suffer a consequence.”

“But-but-but…” Zoran seemed to run out of steam and that made him frustrated and angry. His little face turned red as he visibly held his breath looking on the brink of a angry-tears outburst. 

She pulled him in for a hug and rubbed his back soothingly. “I will always love you Zoran and I know that you are a good person. Making a mistake is okay as long as you learn from it. I know you won’t do something like this again.” 

It took a few seconds but Zoran wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her back. 

Half hiding his face in her hair he spoke with more sincerity. “I’m sorry.” 

She pulled away and smiled at him warmly. Gesturing to Tyr with her head she said, “You didn’t do anything to me.”

Zoran pouted but didn’t stomp his feet as he approached Tyr, which she was mildly proud of. “’m sorry Tyr.” 

“For what?” Tyr prompted with a smug look. Darcy rolled her eyes; her earlier thoughts of him being so mature flew right out the window when he acted like this. 

Zoran crossed his arms in front of his chest and toed the ground. “Fors being mean and tricking you and trapping you. I--I’s sorry for reals and I won’t do it again.” 

“Excellent.” Tyr said with a smirk. “I forgive you.” Moving quickly Tyr picked up Zoran and stood up straight so his little brother’s feet dangled in the air. He then proceeded to rub himself all over Zoran, transferring as much grass, leaf, and dirt debris onto him as he could. As he did this he asked, “Can you feel it Zoran? Can you feel my love?!”

“Ew!” Zoran squealed, “You’re getting me alls dirty! Stop. Put me down!” 

“But we’re hugging.” Tyr declared as he began to twist at the waist, Zoran’s feet flew out with the motion and Darcy put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

“You’re da worst!” Zoran shrieked as Tyr began tickling him. Despite the age and extreme personality differences, her boys usually got along and it was something she was proud of as their mother. She was glad Zoran’s antics hadn’t changed that, she knew even more challenges were on the horizon and did not look forward to watching her families bonds be tested. 

“Daddy, are all brothers this crazy?” Winn asked.

“Yes.” Darcy interjected answering for Tony before he could. Looking at her other son over her shoulder she smiled at him mischievously and said, “But don’t worry. The crazy is very contagious.” 

Winn’s eyes widened and Tony chuckled. Kissing his son’s cheek he reassured him, “She’s kidding.” 

“Really?” 

“Probably.” Tony said with a shrug. 

Darcy moved over and enveloped the pair in a quick group hug before standing at Tony’s side and grabbing up Winn’s little hand. She pressed a kiss to his palm and tickled at his sides making him laugh and squirm. Kindly she told him, “Having crazy brothers is part of the fun of having a big family. You’ll get used to it.”

As one the three of them looked over at Zoran who finally wiggled free of his older brother’s arms and was now running around the room at a normal speed, silently encouraging Tyr to chase him as he laughed and squealed in delight at his attempts to further spread the filth.   
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Tony put Winn down and put his fingers in his mouth letting out a piercing whistle. Zoran and Tyr stopped in their tracks. “Children,” Tony began as he took up Winn’s tiny hand in his own, “Who’s hungry?”

The boys responded at the same time. “I’m always hungry!” “I am.” “Me!”

Tony grinned, “Good.” 

But Darcy couldn’t help but frown. She was hungry as well but that made her realize how late it had gotten. A glance out the window showed that the sun was still out, but she couldn’t imagine the girls wouldn’t be sick of the beach by now. They had been there practically all day! “Jarvis what time is it?” 

“Half past five Miss Darcy.” 

“No wonder the little beasts are restless.” Tony muttered as he slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her towards the door. “Jarvis,” He asked in a louder tone, “What’s in the fridge?”

“Wait,” Darcy stopped forcing Tony to stop. “Jarvis, where are Steve and the girls?” 

Tony perked up as if their absence had just occurred to them. He looked out the window at the sun as she had. Jarvis replied, “Mr. Rogers, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Wilson and young Misses Alice and Maria-Sarah are in a car on the Pacific Coast Highway.” 

Her last reunion was within sight and she was so suddenly filled with joy, Darcy smiled broadly at Tony and he smiled back. And then a second later Jarvis added, “They are currently in bumper to bumper traffic due to a five car pileup five miles from their current location. Factoring in their need to stop for gas and the children’s demands for food, their estimated time of arrival is six hours and thirty nine minutes.” 

“What!” Darcy exclaimed loudly. “But that’s like--” It took her a second to do the math in her head, “Midnight?! You’re telling me I’m not going to get to meet my three year old daughter for the first time until midnight!?”

“I’m afraid there is nothing to be done Miss Darcy.” Jarvis said with a note of compassion. 

As with most of her problems Darcy turned to Tony and just said his name in a pitiful tone hoping he would have a magical solution. “Tony?” 

“It’s going to be okay.” He said calmly. He wrapped her up in a hug and she melted into his arms. 

“It’s not fair.” She whined into his neck, “I’m sick of waiting and being patient, I—I deserve to meet her now! This is such bullshit.” 

“I know.” Tony consoled. “I know.” He ran his hands over her back and she frowned and hid her face in his shoulder. She knew in her heart that even if she waited up to see them, the three year old would be tired and cranky and probably passed out already. Exhausted and ‘hangry’ was not how she wanted to meet her daughter for the first time, no doubt neither would be in a good mood if that were the case and she wanted their reunion to go as perfectly as hers with Winn had. 

She felt a pair of little arms encase one of her legs and she pulled apart from Tony enough to look down. Winn was hugging her and kind of petting her but like Tony had been on her back. “Don’t be sad.” He counseled with a little frown. “Maria-Sarah isn’t even that nice.” 

Darcy’s eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?”

Winn let go of her legs like she was made of fire. “I-I-I mean,” He stuttered and looked searchingly at Tony for help. “S-she’s not—“

“She’s a princess.” Tony finished for his son. The silky smooth voice he used said volumes about his words being an attempt to smooth over the rough edges of the truth bomb Winn had just dropped on her. Tony took her hand and kissed her knuckles, “Maria-Sarah is Steve’s perfect, blameless, entitled little princess. And she is a force of nature to behold, just like her mother.”

Darcy blinked at that description a little gob smacked. Earlier, she’d gotten the sense that Maria-Sarah had Steve wrapped around her finger when he’d told her of the tantrum that led to the group going to the beach instead of hanging out at the house to meet her, but to hear it put so plainly? And by a three year old? She scrambled for something to say. “Oh.” 

“Maybe the delay is a good thing?” Tyr offered quietly. He out of all the children in the room knew how much the reunion with her Earth bound children meant to her. How far she was willing to go for them. How much she had already done to get them to this point. 

“Yeah!” Zoran chimed in enthusiastically, “Nows we can have mama and boys time all day with no stinky Alice taking up your attentions for a whiles.” 

Again, she was taken aback by her youngest. There was no anger or resentment in his voice when he spoke of his sister, but there was a quality to it that spoke of his joy to have her all to himself. Relatively speaking. 

“Boy time.” She echoed thoughtfully. 

“Me and daddy have boy time all the time.” Winn offered with a small smile, “Usually down in the workshop when he shows me how to build robots.” 

That made her lips quirk up. Her eyes cut over to Tony. “Build robots?” 

“Tiny robots.” Tony defended, holding his hands about twelve inches apart, “Toys really.” 

“Perhaps I should shower before we eat.” Tyr said as lifted his arm and sniffed at the dirt clinging to his skin.

“Yes!” Tony shouted out, “And before that, we should show your mother around the house.” 

She gave him a flat look and reminded him, “Tony, I lived here. I know my way around.” 

He took a step forward and kissed her on the cheek, “Oh, Liquor Lips, you forget that I’ve made some changes in your absence.” 

“And in anticipation of your arrival!” Winn added. “Happy said it was impossible to get it all done in time, but we did it! Daddy had people convert a bunch of the guest rooms for you. He wanted the house to be nice for you and, mommy, mommy, I helped! Auntie Pepper and Uncle Sam and Bucky let me tell them how to arrange the boy’s rooms and I did what Auntie Pepper told me to do for the rest of them. I even got to use a tape measure all by myself!” 

“You helped ready our rooms?” Tyr asked looking down at Winn with a surprised expression. Winn responded with an eager smile and nod. Darcy watched in concern as Tyr’s face twisted into something that resembled barely restrained distain. He turned that look on Tony. “I had assumed Stark was above child labor?”

Tony gave her son a strained grin, clearly uncomfortable and not knowing how to respond. He was rescued by his son. Unaware of the tension between his father and half brother, Winn told Tyr, “Yeah!”   
The boy’s prideful enthusiasm seeped out of his very pores. “I picked out the themes and some of the toys and told Bucky and Sam where to put the heavy furniture and--” 

He seemed to get a jolt of energy and began bouncing on his heels. He rushed over to Darcy and grabbed her hand, “And we can show you now!” He started pulling her forward saying, “Come on! Come on! I want to show you what I did to help to make this house your new old home!” 

Zoran zipped to her side and grabbed her other hand and started pulling her along with Winn, he seemed equally excited, “Yeah! Come on mama.”

“Haven’t you already seen the house?” She questioned Zoran as she allowed the youngest of her boys to pull her along. 

“A course I have.” Zoran told her with a serious expression, “But I haven’t seen _you_ see it! And we all know giving gifts and watchin’ peoples open them is the bestest parts. Right mama? Like on Christmaskkuah?” 

“Right baby.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw Tony clap Tyr on the shoulder and say something, but she couldn’t hear what was said. However the pair caught up with them fairly quickly.   
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At the end of the tour Darcy had only one thought, Tony was far too wealthy and far too desperate for love for his own good. 

Zoran and Winn excitedly dragged her all over the ground floor, basically showing off how nothing on the ground level of the house had really changed. There was the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, the movie room, the dog’s room; there they found Chip dozing chasing something in his sleep if his animated legs were anything to go by. With the exception of the nursery she had been readying for her new born babies being converted into [Winn’s room.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c0/f6/bd/c0f6bdec4bff4184141f24ffe553a98b.jpg) And Steve’s old room now classified as a ‘guest room’, nothing had changed. Especially not their [master bedroom.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/09/54/59/095459e86dd32aad480729435bbd1df1.jpg)

Sure, Tony had added some more pictures of her scattered around the house, but other than that it seemed painstaking effort had gone into keeping everything else just as she had left it. She wasn’t sure what that said about Tony’s headspace but she had a feeling it wasn’t good. However, unwilling to deflate her son’s enthusiasm for their new living space, no matter how familiar she already was with it, she ‘ooh’ed and ‘ahh’ed as Winn acted as their tour guide and Zoran as his echo and ‘hype’ man. 

As the tour progressed she was helpless to stop the flood of memories each familiar space inspired. Tony cooking her breakfast and dancing with her to some old song. Convincing Steve Jurassic Park was based on true events. Opening a door and nearly being run over by puppies. Making love to Steve and Tony…just about everywhere. Frigga’s cruelty in stealing all these precious memories never felt so harsh.

As they left Tony’s painfully small and boring office Tony made a quiet note to have the guest room (Steve’s old room next to their bedroom) readied by the 30th, as Bruce was still coming to stay with them for a while at the end of the month. When they finally came to the stairs that lead to the second floor he whispered in her ear, “I dare you not to cry.” 

The stairs had Disney quotes on them. 

“You’re a crazy person.” She responded, but damn it if she didn’t feel a little weepy with each step they took and every quote she read. 

Tony laughed at her with his eyes. “You know even if I delegated the construction, I designed everything. Pepper helped of course, but all the little touches that hit you in the sentimental gut?” He grinned at her boastfully, “All me.” 

At the top of the stairs there was a giant Scrabble board on the wall. Her Asgardian son’s barely gave it a glance, eager to show her their own rooms, but Winn paused and added a word and Tony tallied the score in chalk for him. The score board had two teams listed, ‘UPSTAIRS’ and ‘DOWNSTAIRS’. 

She was still staring at the Scrabble board when Winn opened the door to the first room and yelled, “Ta da!” Seeing she wasn’t paying attention he squawked, “Mommy?!” 

She pasted on a smile and hurried forward, “I’m here.”

“Well, come and look!” Winn said eagerly. She peered inside. 

There was a large bed in the room identical to the one she and Tony shared downstairs, it was different color though. There was a vast record collection along one of the walls and a giant chalkboard schedule on another. It was very…impersonally decorated. Which she found very weird. 

“What is this?” She asked, looking to Tony over her shoulder. “Another guest room?” 

“It’s a [communal bedroom](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2e/d3/7a/2ed37a4e8969602a8d08b81e2d9edfeb.jpg).” He answered.

“Communal bedroom?” Tyr scoffed. “Do you host many hedonistic bacchanals?”

“Bacca-what?” Zoran asked looking over to Winn who just shrugged his shoulders. She internally sighed in relief that her three year old wasn’t _that_ smart. Or that corrupted?

“This is the room where the family can gather and hang out together in a neutral space.” Tony explained with a pointed edge in his tone. 

“And we can organize our schedules in a visual way to avoid conflicts.” Winn explained further. He sounded like a tiny Pepper Potts as he lectured and gestured to the large blackboard, “Jarvis maintains all the appointments and stuff, but Uncle Bucky is old fashioned and we thought you might be too, considering Asgard is uh, ‘old school’ culture-wise. Anyway, it’s more of a redundancy system than anything as all things added to the board are automatically added to Jarvis’s digital calendar.”

“What is this?” Tyr asked, as he fingered the record player, “Some sort of food platter…distribution device?” 

“That is off limits!” Winn told him as he scurried over and pushed at Tyr’s legs. “You can’t touch daddy’s special music player unless you have permission and adult supervision. It’s a rule.”

“On Asgard we have a saying ‘rules are made to be broken’.” Tyr scoffed.

“No we don’t.” Zoran said taking the words literally out of Darcy’s mouth. She couldn’t figure out why Tyr was being persnickety all of a sudden but it was seriously starting to chaff. 

“We’re not on Asgard.” Winn told him with an adorable no nonsense look on his face. “And in this family we don’t hurt each other and breaking the rules leads to broken hearts. And usually property damage.” 

“And who told you that?” Tyr questioned, he spared a glance over his shoulder at Tony. “Your father?” 

“No, my Auntie Pepper.” Winn responded with a pinched look. “Daddy says ‘if you obey all the rules you miss all the fun’. But Uncle Rhodey says that’s because Daddy’s incorrigible.” 

Zoran, king of the non sequitur segue, ended Winn and Tyr’s philosophical discussion on rule breaking by tugging on her dress and loudly declaring, “Mama, I’m bored.” 

She really loved him some times. “Okay, baby.” 

With a toothy grin he asked, “Can I show you my room now? It has way more funner things to play with.” 

“I’d love that.” She agreed.  
.  
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Zoran’s room was indeed, funner. 

“Oh, Tony.” She gasped as she first got sight of it. Tony had gone all out for her youngest and judging from Zoran reaction he seem to love it as well. Her son zipped about picking things up then running back to her practically screaming ‘look at this’ before running away to put it back where he found it only to pick something else up and repeat the process.

Zoran’s room was decked out in pirate paraphernalia. He had a boat bed with a sail as his headboard which worked as a projection screen and at the foot of the bed there was a cannon mounted and aimed at the door. She made a mental note to ask if it was functional as she took in the rest. 

There was a little shark desk for do his homework at. And a small elevated play area made up to resemble the deck of ship. Peter Pan was painted on the sky, a pirate map was on a wall, and everywhere she looked she saw little touches that showed how much time and care had gone into making [this room perfect](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/e1/d4/7ee1d41cd7be9275575e9fb70c6bf655.jpg) for her energetic little boy. “Oh Tony.” She repeated as she stepped in further. “This is…” 

She didn’t have words.

“Do you like it?” Winn asked eagerly, “I helped paint the book shelves,” He pointed at the rain-bowed wall display and then at the half boat one on the ground beside the bed. “And I watched Uncle Sam use the saw to make this one, but he wanted to put it over there, and I told him ‘no’ it would be better over here.” 

Winn reminded her so much of Tony in that moment. He was so eager to please and desperate for her love and approval. “It’s perfect.” She told him as she wiped away a tear. “This is perfect.”   
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Winn led them next to the [playroom.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/76/39/19763928425a55ac3afa5a708fa1600d.jpg) It was insane. It was literally every child’s dream. There was a large open space for the riding of tiny cars, an indoor jungle gym, a wall of nerf guns, a quiet reading nook and/or TV area, a netted climbing nest near the ceiling, a secret ball pit room, and most crazy of all there was a secret slide that connected the third floor to the play room so Maria-Sarah could join Winn in the coolest way possible. 

“This is too much.” She commented as Zoran and Winn got into a pair of cars and started racing around the room. Tyr was drawn to the wall of weapons and she almost laughed at his look of approval. 

“Did you expect me to do anything less for my kids?” Tony murmured in her ear. He hugged her from behind and she leant against his solid chest. The metal embedded in his body dug into her skin painfully, reminding her of how hard Tony had fought to get to this point too. Still…

Tilting her head back she kissed the underside of Tony’s jaw murmuring, “You have too much money.” 

“And too much time on my hands.” Tony whispered before he kissed her. 

“Good thing I came back then. Huh?” She questioned as they broke apart. 

Thick with emotion, Tony responded. “Very good.”   
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Winn and Zoran abandoned the tour, opting instead to stay and play together in the play room under the watchful eye of Jarvis. Darcy made Zoran promise not to use his powers unless it was a life or death emergency, especially not to cheat and win at any games. The two youngest seemed to be getting along great and she was pleased to see that Winn seemed to be coming out of his shell with his half brother more and more. She supposed he was appreciative to have a playmate his own age and gender, if his comments about Maria-Sarah’s attitude were anything to go on. 

Tony led her and Tyr to her son’s room and opened the door with a flourish saying, “And for our moody pre-teen…”

“I am not moody.” Tyr argued without menace. She could feel his and Tony’s eyes on her as she silently took in the room. Her eyes devoured every inch of it, but she honestly didn’t know what to say. Designing a room for Tyr was a challenge and Tony’s solution was spectacular. 

Tony had a furrowed brow and desperate looking eyes as he started to speak to fill the quiet. “I didn’t know what the kid would like so I took a shot in the dark. I mean, you said he’s the God of War, but I didn’t think a room dedicated to weaponry would really fly with Pep or Sam. They’d say it promoted violence or something, so I went something more innocuous. You like it right, kid? Kid likes it. So, um, do you like it? …Honey?” 

The room’s walls were a dark blue that was almost black, except for one wall that was black. The black wall was a chalkboard and someone had colored the planets on it. The room’s [theme was space](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/82/86/6c/82866cb45f0614f8e8430ef2b1f022a1.jpg) and it was absolutely gorgeous.

In comparison to Zoran’s room or the play room, it was decorated sparsely. Only a few trinkets here and there. The main attraction of the room was a four screen video game nook, but she had a feeling Tyr would get more out of the two lego tables. At least she hoped so.

“Mother?” Tyr prompted. “You haven’t said anything. Have your man Stark’s choices displeased you?” 

She looked over her son, who was still covered in dirt and grass and slightly damp. “Do you like it?” 

With an expressionless face he said, “I suppose it could be worse.” 

In a deadpan voice Tony quipped, “Thank you for that ringing endorsement.”

Darcy snickered and pulled Tyr closer but was careful to keep any of his muck off her person. She pet his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. “I love you, you know that?” 

“Of course.”

“And if you hate it here, we’ll figure something else out.” She knew hearing that would hurt Tony, but she had to say the words because they were true. And she needed Tyr to know he was her priority. No matter the lengths Tony went to in order to entice them to stay at the mansion, if her children were unhappy she would leave. “You and your sisters and brothers are the most important people in my life. Being together, being a family, it’s the only thing I want.”

“Whatever you don’t like we can change it.” Tony added. “Bedding, sharing a bathroom with your brother, the view--whatever. This was really just a starting point. You don’t have to keep the room like this. And—just, just know that I get it. You’re more than your biological age, an old soul or whatever, but I put this room together after knowing you for two days and thought you would appreciate—it doesn’t matter, the point is you should speak up if you don’t like something. I promise it won’t hurt my feelings. I won’t get mad. I just..want you all to feel comfortable here.”

Tony’s efforts were made with the best of intentions, but it was clear he missed the point of what she was trying to say to her son. 

“Tyr, honey, if we need to get a house of our own, we will.” Darcy told him and Tyr looked surprised. 

“Really?” 

She didn’t dare to glance over at Tony and take in his reaction. Maintaining eye contact with her son she said, “One that is separate and just for us, your dad, Zoran, and Alice. If that’s what we need to do to make you--”

“I like the room.” Tyr interrupted. “I like the house.” He smiled at her, but his eyes glistened with barely contained emotion. “I like the child, my brother Winn, he seems very intelligent for a Midgardian of his age. I…I like your man Stark, it’s clear that he loves you more than is healthy, but I can also see he makes you happy.”

“He does.” She said at the same time Tony said, “I try.” 

Tyr nodded. “His efforts to welcome us into his home and his family, are not disagreeable. Zoran certainly loves it here already.” 

“And you?” Tony asked. 

“I—I don’t hate it here. But this is not my home, not without--” Tony didn’t look pleased by that response and Tyr exclaimed, “It’s just a lot! Okay?!”

He turned away from them and she easily read his stressed out body language, he was holding back tears. She cursed herself for not seeing this coming. She was not the only one affected by long waits to reunite with family; Tyr and Thor were very close despite their differences in personality. Thor was Tyr’s hero, his idol, he looked up to and loved his father very much. Seeing her with Tony and Winn, had to be weird for him. Plus, he missed his dad, the familiarity of his home, and his predictable routine. She knew Tyr was very Type A, foisting so much change on him so quickly? He was bound to reach the breaking point sooner or later.

Tyr was so often her rock; he followed rules and tattled on those who didn’t. He was a capable Zoran wrangler and Alice spy/barnacle. He was more than mature he was wise, a young man who knew there were evils in the world and had been tasked with being among those who stood against them. But. He was also her son. 

Her ten year old, half human, baby boy. She pulled him into her arms and hugged him for all that she was worth. 

“Mother--you’ll get dirty.” Tyr protested with his words even as his arms came around her and he held on to her tightly.

“Thor will come home to us soon. A few weeks maybe less.” She told him as she slightly rocked him in her arms. “You know that don’t you? That I want him to come home. That my love for him won’t wane in his absence or be replaced by affection for someone else.” 

“I know.” 

“I will always love you.” She said with conviction. 

“I know.” 

“I would never choose anyone over you.” She said, trying to alleviate all the fears she thought might be plaguing him. 

“….I know.” 

Tony embraced him from behind adding to the hug and Tyr tensed in her arms, but allowed the contact to continue. “I’m not trying to--nor could I ever replace your dad or steal your mom away.” Tony declared, “Darcy loves who she loves. And there’s no fighting that. In fact I’ve found it’s better to embrace those people your loved one’s love rather than reject them or avoid them or try to force them to choose between you.” 

“I agree.” Her son said quietly.

“Tyr, I’ll admit that I don’t know you very well, but you seem like an intense kid. Love hard. Fight hard. Loyalty. Honor. The whole she-bang. And yeah, all that makes this group hug highly uncomfortable, I was a little worried you might stab me, but here I am hugging you anyway. Because I care.” 

“I agree. This is uncomfortable and I did consider stabbing you.”

Tony snickered. “My point kid, is you’re Darcy’s kid, which means you’re my family. Blood or no blood, I take care of my family. I protect them, I help them…sometimes smother them, but ultimately I love them. Fiercely….If they let me, that is.” 

“…..” Tyr didn’t respond and she hoped it was because he was carefully considering Tony’s words and the veracity with which they were spoken. 

“Give Tony some time and you’ll love him too. I promise.” She encouraged.

“We’ll see.” Tyr muttered a hint of a smile in his voice now. Tony took a step back and slipped his hands into his pants pockets. She met his eyes and he nodded at her encouragingly mouthing the words, ‘you are a good mom’.

She pressed a kiss to Tyr’s hair and rested her cheek against his head. “Earth isn’t like Asgard.” She told him in a soft voice, “I know you like training to be a warrior and everything, but back home it wasn’t encouraged it was expected. A lot of things were expected of you. Maybe too many things. Maybe it’s my fault that this transition is so difficult for you and--”

Tyr protested simply. “No.” He pulled his head up from her shoulder and met her eyes and repeated himself. “No.” 

“Maybe.” She conceded, before continuing, “Baby, I want you to be a kid while you still can be. And being a kid means letting the grown up’s take care of you for a change, not the other way around. And I know that hasn’t always been ‘so’ with our dynamic, but it should have been. I want it to be. I know you don’t want to relax until Thor comes back to us, but you can, trust me honey, you can relax now. I’m here. I’m whole. And I will never stop loving you or your father or your brother or your sister. We’re a family, forever. Now, our family is just bigger.” 

This time when Tyr said, “I know.” She heard the understanding in his voice. He wasn’t just saying what he thought they wanted to hear, he was speaking from his heart. So she spoke from hers…

“You’re too serious and you need to have more frivolous fun.” She said in a gentle but commanding tone. She got the desired result of the left side of Tyr’s lips lifting into a quick half smile.

“I am so good at enabling frivolous fun.” Tony told him in a hyperbolic whisper. 

She kissed Tyr’s head once more before deciding their emotional conversation was over with. “Also, did you know you smell really bad?” 

Tyr giggled in response and it was such a foreign sound she almost thought it was a cough at first. He stepped away from her embrace and sniffed himself in an exaggerated fashion. Comically he screwed his face up in disgust, “I know.” 

Tony nodded to a closet door, “Towel’s are in there. Bathroom’s across from the play room.” 

“Okay.”   
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They checked on the boys in the playroom before moving on with the tour and leaving Tyr to his shower. The last room on the second floor had a huge arched wooden door and she couldn’t help but think it looked out of place with the rest of the houses sleek modern aesthetic. 

Before opening the door Tony explained his thinking about the redesign of the house. “The first floor is for us, clearly I changed as little as I could because I always knew you would come back to me.” 

Darcy pressed a kiss to his lips to encourage him as he seemed a little nervous, he ran a hand through his hair making it look a little wild. “I know this change is going to be hard, especially on the kids, but that’s why I went so overboard with the house. I wanted everyone to have their own space. I wanted there to be a room for you and me to be alone tighter. You and Thor, and even you and everybody, hence the communal bedroom. I know this is a lot, but I just hope it’s not too much for you.”

“You are very lucky that your wealth matches the size of your heart.” She said diplomatically, because it was clear to her that Tony had spent several fortunes getting the house ready for them in such a short time span. He was a generous person by nature, but this was really going overboard in her opinion. However she knew he didn’t love or trust easily, hence the immense effort. He wanted this to work out. He would be devastated if it didn’t. To see him go to such lengths and make so many concessions, she felt so blessed to be loved so well. And she felt so sad for him to think he had to do so much to be loved equally in return. “I love you Tony Stark.” 

Looking emboldened by her reaction Tony plowed on speaking quickly. “I don’t want you to take the size of this next room as a passive aggressive sign of my disrespect for your marriage to Thor. I made the playroom too large with the ball pit room and ran out of real estate, this is the smallest room in the house bedroom wise and I know Thor’s a big guy which is not ideal, also he’s a prince so, standards. And I just want you to know I am willing to switch--”

“Open the door Tony.” She commanded, cutting off his rambling. 

When he did, she let out a gasp. Everything in the room was made up of wood and earth tones, which was exactly [Thor’s vibe](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/af/35/b5/af35b5fa9425d370657d5287a944dd15.jpg). She did notice it was smaller than every other bedroom right off the bat, but the way everything was arranged, the warm homey décor, it just made the space feel cozy. Not small. 

It helped that the bed was this massive wooden tree thing that took up half the room on its own. 

“There’s a private bath just through there, I didn’t want you to have to share with the boys, or come downstairs or go upstairs if you needed uh…Pepper helped pick out most of the furniture for this room but I--the desk! The desk is a repurposed piano, see? I thought you would like that.” Tony chattered, “I didn’t know if he and Barnes could pull it off considering how they bicker like Regina George and Cady, but-I think it looks alright. …I could probably knock out this wall and make it bigger before Thor comes back to Earth, but I thought maybe—Pepper said it was---okay Darce I’m dying here. Please, say something?” 

“Don’t touch it.” She told him, her voice thick with suppressed tears. “It’s perfect as is.” 

“Just like you.” He replied and it was so corny but it melted her heart all the same. When he leaned in to kiss her a tear escaped her control and rolled down her cheek. Tony kissed it away.  
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There was an elevator that went from Tony’s workshop underground all the way up to the 3rd floor. However, they took the stairs. Someone had painted them rainbow and she loved them. However when she saw the first door the charming stairs were the furthest thing from her mind. 

“Holy shit.” She exclaimed. Giant stained glass doors lit up with the last rays of the setting sun illuminating a beautiful Wizard of Oz tableau. 

Tony smiled at her reaction. “I call this room, ‘[mommy’s little oasis](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/23/10/48/231048ce3bf67a7f3d503f92c86f3513.jpg).” 

He opened the door and gently pulled her inside. “This is your room. Your fortress of solitude. Your refuge from the storm. A place you can go to hide from your many needy children and lovers and dogs and various responsibilities. A place to play Wizard of Oz pinball, or get dressed in peace, or read a book, or bond with your girls over makeup, or…Steve. I wanted you to have a space for you two to be together that is separate from his room with Barnes.”

“And separate from my room with you.” She added as her eyes cut over to Tony and found him doing his best to look happy for her but detached of his own emotional investment. 

“And Thor.” He acknowledged. “And the communal room which I foresee as a convergence point for the children and parents alike.” 

“It’s beautiful.” She complimented, not wanting to look at things too closely for fear she would burst into tears and not be able to stop.

“You deserve beautiful things.” Tony said softly.

“Show me the next room?”   
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[Alice’s room](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5d/24/db/5d24db03083e0d4759e9a4398e6ff7d6.jpg)was next to hers and it was predictably “Alice in Wonderland” themed, but in a surprisingly restrained fashion. The walls of her room were white and so was most of the furniture. It gave off a crisp, uncluttered, and clean vibe she knew her daughter would appreciate. And Darcy was certain she would appreciate all the little Disney touches after they finally watched her name sake movie together. 

Tony didn’t go into detail or ramble as she took the place in, and she was glad he was over whatever nervousness that had been bothering him earlier. However, he did point out one thing. “I made the girls their own special ‘play/hang-out-and-bond-with-your-weirdly-older-identical-twin-room’.” 

“And that needs to be the sign on the door to that room.” She joked making him laugh. 

In the closet he pushed aside a few clothes someone had bought for her daughter and revealed a little door. “Is that…?”

“A secret little door you have to crawl through that is the only way in or out of the secret play room besides an emergency fire escape I added?” 

“You can’t be serious.” She said with a big smile.

And then Tony got on his hands and knees, opened the door, shook his butt at her, and crawled though. She followed of course, but was a little annoyed that this process would soon be impossible for her as her pregnancy advanced beyond the first trimester.

She took Tony’s hand to help her stand up and gasped at the [girly ‘playroom’.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4d/da/7d/4dda7d02daf7206b025ae6eb81bd72a2.jpg) One wall was pink, one was ombre blue/teal, one wall had the Emerald City on it the opposite, the flowers from Alice in Wonderland. And there was a castle in the middle of the room. A castle! It seemed to be set up for play and study which intrigued her. There was a little art center. A reading corner. An charming Winnie the Pooh gaming table and chairs. It was a room meant to foster friendship between little girls. But Alice wasn’t a little girl.

“This is amazing.” She awed trying not to let any of her reservations show. 

“Yeah.” Tony agreed, “However I think Sam and Pep deserve a lot of the credit for this room though. They put a lot of thought into what and how a little kid and a teenager would be able to bond over. Giving them a space like this will hopefully keep the identical twin bond alive, even though, ya know, they’re not so identical anymore.” 

The thought of what had been stolen from her girls made her terribly sad. “Next room?” 

“Is something--?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” She promised, “I’m just starting to get hungry.” 

“Okay.” Tony nodded accepting her words as the truth.   
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Again they crawled through a little door and emerged out into a closet. This one was much, much, fuller though. And in her opinion had far too many tutu’s. “Does Maria-Sarah do ballet?” 

“No. She’s just a drama queen.” He eyed the tutu she was touching. “Wears these things at least once a week to breakfast.” 

“Just to breakfast?”

“She’s a fan of a midday costume change.” He said with a shrug and then he opened the closet and let her get her first good look at her daughter’s bedroom. 

It was by far the messiest, pinkest, most [Disney-fied room](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b9/37/1a/b9371a0b56b6ba2ddbd2f34e583b3b9a.jpg) she had ever seen.

“Holy crap.” There were clothes everywhere. On the floor, draped over furniture, stuffed into a toy box, hanging out of her drawers haphazardly. There were also toys _everywhere_. The mess almost distracted her from the room’s centerpiece, a giant hot air balloon bed. “Oh my god.” 

Tracking her eyes, Tony smiled. “I built that for her a few weeks before Steve and Barnes agreed to come back to the mansion after—ya know. Apparently on the road they let the kid watch a lot of TV and movies to keep her occupied and quiet while they mentally rehabbed Barnes. So she’s pretty much obsessed with Disney and all things Oz, just like you.” 

It was then that she looked down and found what was underneath the bed was something familiar. She got closer and kicked a few stray stuffed animals out of the way to see what was there better. It was the Wizard of Oz rug from the baby’s nursery. “Like me?” She echoed in a squeak. “She’s like me?” 

She had long given up on the idea of having a mini-me. One who loved the things she loved as a child or liked to do the ‘disney/girly’ things she longed to do with a daughter. Like braid hair. Or Disney karaoke. Or play dress up. Or have spa day.

Alice hated all things princess and girlie, so dedicated was she to the idea of becoming a Valkyrie she rejected Darcy many times over the years. They learned to bond over other things though, like sarcasm and food. And Zoran and Tyr were boys! BOYS! Tyr cut his hair the day after she offered to braid it for him. Zoran ran around naked for a week when she tried putting him in a little fancy suit just for fun. And none of her Asgardian children had the emotional investment in fairy tales to really enjoy her singing “Part of Your World” beyond enjoying the sound of her voice. 

Taking in Maria-Sarah’s room she found little touches of Disney everywhere! She just knew this little girl knew all the princesses names and their animal sidekicks and their country of origin. She probably knew every song from Wizard of Oz and Little Mermaid and every other Disney movie ever made and—Tony wrapped his arms around her because apparently she’d started crying.

“I don’t know why I’m crying.” She told him as she clung to his shirt.

“It’s a lot.” Tony said, echoing Tyr’s earlier words. “And it’s okay. I’m here.” 

Her daughter was like her! She loved girly stuff and Oz and dressing up just because and she was messy and—Darcy was just so damn happy. “Their happy tears.” She told him as she came to the realization. “I’m happy.” 

“Good.” He kissed her on the cheek and held her closer. “I’m confused by this reaction, but glad.”   
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They spent about ten minutes going over Maria-Sarah’s room, looking at all the knick knacks and books and toys until finally she was ready to move on. 

“One room left.” Tony informed her as he led her out into the hall. 

“Should we—I mean, isn’t going into Steve and Bucky’s room an invasion of privacy? Should we…not?”

“I put a whole floor between me and them, but this is my house, and Jarvis is installed in every nook and cranny. There is no such thing as privacy.” 

She barked out a laugh. “Do they know that?”

“Did I come out and tell them? No. But it was implied.” He insisted. 

“Okay.” She said quietly, “Just a quick look.” 

“Sir.” Jarvis sounded from above, “I have taken the liberty of ordering pizza as the hour is late and you have not begun making arrangements for dinner. I have directed the young masters to the healthy snack bins in the refrigerator and they have retired to the movie room to watch ‘Cars’. The food should arrive within the next twenty minutes.” 

“Thanks Jarvis.” She said at the same time Tony said, “Good looking out J.”   
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Steve and Bucky’s color scheme for their bedroom was yellow, dark blue, and grey marble. [And it was weird,](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/17/ef/1d/17ef1d6b6458f330d7af6f84b63aa2bc.jpg) but it kind of worked. The bright yellow color was the first thing she noticed; the second were all the pictures of her. They stood out against the bright happy color, most of them were black and white and hand drawn. And stunning. 

The room was filled with the last whispers of light from the sinking sun. It was smaller than the other bedrooms she’d seen but bigger than her and Thor’s little love nest. It had high ceilings though, that made the space feel bigger. 

Looking up she found Steve had painted the ceiling like Van Gough’s ‘Starry Night’. She assumed he’d done the pictures of her as well. There were many pictures of her and she gravitated over to the artist desk where a sketchbook lay open. On the wall there was a perfect rainbow of colored pencils mounted and it was clear they were not just for show.

She thumbed through the pages trying not to feel guilty for peeking. At the beginning of the book there was a heavy mix of pictures of Tony, her, and baby Maria-Sarah. As she progressed to the middle of the sketch book there weren’t any more pictures of Tony. And only one or two of her. There were tons of Bucky and Maria-Sarah though. She closed the sketch book with maybe more force than necessary. 

Tony spoke curtly. “He’s been drawing you since you left.”

“Mmmh.” She replied wordlessly. 

She crossed the room to return to his side. He was stiff and tense. She slipped her hands around his waist and pushed up on her tip toes for a kiss, which he returned. It tasted melancholy. She pulled away quickly and slipped her arm into his. 

“Food should be here by now, yeah?”

Allowing her to change the subject Tony said, “Let’s go check.” 

They closed the door and left the room, arm in arm.   
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She was tempted to try to stay up late to meet Maria-Sarah despite knowing it was an effort in futile disappointment, but after she and the boys ate as much pizza as they could she passed out while watching ‘Cars 2’. It was such a crap movie she was kind of ashamed Winn seemed so invested in it.

Later, she woke up to Tony unhooking her bra. “Sexy times?” She drowsily asked. 

He chuckled and replied with a kiss to her collar bone, “Sleepy times.” 

“Boo.” She made a farting noise with her lips, but helped Tony undress her further. He didn’t bother trying to get her into sleeping clothes and she was glad for it.

“Steve and crew get home alright?” She asked as she snuggled into his body when he joined her in the bed. 

“Yeah.” Tony kissed her forehead and her lips twitched but were too tired to properly smile. “Dog peed and ate part of the car. But everyone’s home. Safe and sound.” 

“Good.” The feel of his warm skin pressed up against her own, the feeling of love and safety, she was out like a light in five minutes flat.  
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She woke to an empty bed and after a quick check in with Jarvis learned Tony was doing morning laps in the pool and Tyr had joined him. All the other children were asleep, Steve was out on a run with both dogs, and Bucky was somewhere Jarvis couldn’t disclose doing something he heavily implied was pooping. 

As she went around tending to her morning necessities in the bathroom she let herself missed Thor. Like, really just wallow in the feeling of missing him. She wished Jarvis was like Heimdall and just _knew_ where her husband was and what he was doing so he could tell her. Not knowing was the worst. Not having him to kiss her awake was even worser. 

Not willing to start her morning by crying, Darcy put on a robe and blearily made her way to the kitchen. She had no energy for anything and so poured herself a bowl of dry Cheerios and grabbed a bottle of water. As she was leaving the kitchen she ran into Bucky Barnes. And spilled her breakfast all over the floor.

“Aw, dinglehoppers!” She cursed with a pout.

“Dingle-what?” Bucky questioned as he got down on his knees and began cleaning up her mess.

“Dinglehopper.” Darcy answered, watching him clean but not offering to help, “It’s my kid friendly curse word. I don’t use it often because at a certain point I stopped giving a shit about cursing in front to them, occasionally it just comes out.”

“Uh, okay.” Once he collected all her spilled cereal, without a word he moved around her and threw it out, preparing a new bowl for her without being asked. 

“So, fuck those Nazi’s right?” She said as she took a seat at the counter, her original plan had been to sit by the big windows and watch her boys swim, but getting to talk to Bucky alone was too great an opportunity to pass up.

Bucky’s lips twitched but he didn’t smile as he set down her new bowl of food in front of her. “Yeah, fuck those Nazi’s.” 

“I’m glad you got rescued.” She told him as she shoveled a handful into her face. 

“Are you?” Bucky questioned looking…afraid of the answer?

“Yes.” She told him sincerely. She tried to reach across the counter and squeeze his hand comfortingly, but he jerked away from her. It was only then that she realized she’d reached for his metal hand. He was obviously still dealing with some residual trauma related to his captivity. Not that she blamed him. 

But still…

“Have you had any violent outbursts since you got saved?” It was a serious question undercut by her chewing, but she was hungry and she wanted to know if he was a danger to her children.

“Not in awhile. And never directed at the kids.” He answered in a low voice.

His answer told her that Steve had prepped him for this conversation. At least somewhat. “Well, if you ever do, hurt the kids I mean FYI my husband is the god of thunder and you have a metal arm.” She let the threat hang in the air between them before smiling at him brightly, “But as long as that doesn’t happen, you can count on me for emotional support or whatever. Seriously, what was done to you was fucked up and I am so glad those assholes are soon to be smote.”

“Smote?” Bucky parroted with a confused expression.

“Steve didn’t—oh crap. We forgot to tell Steve.” Darcy smacked her head realizing they had let Tony know and called Scott, but not shared their secret plan beyond that. “Check it, so on Asgard there is this guy named Heimdall. He’s Thor’s BFF and he is semi-omnipotent as in he can see everything everywhere at all times. Don’t think about that too hard when you’re sitting on the toilet, it will _literally_ scare the crap back up inside you. Anyway, before I lost my memories I asked him about you and Wanda. He said you were captive, but alive. And for a month that gave me hope. And then when my memories got wiped it never occurred to me to ask him where you were because I didn’t know you existed. So now that I do…”

“He’s going to tell Thor where Hydra’s holding Wanda.” Bucky deduced quickly. 

She shot him a finger gun. “Bingo.” 

“That’s genius.” He smiled at her for the first time and internally, she totally swooned. Let it not be said that Bucky Barnes was anything but a handsome, handsome man. 

“I know.” She bragged. “But that’s not even the best part.” 

Bucky looked thoughtful for a second before he’s eyes lit up. “Smote?” 

“Thor isn’t coming here, to Malibu, when he comes back to Earth. He’s going directly to wherever Wanda is and he’s going to rain down the wrath of a righteous god on those evil motherfuckers and rescue my best friend who is a girl.” 

She’d thought up the plan fifteen minutes before Thor left for Asgard and she thought it was a winner. Especially given the world (outside of Shield) was not aware of Thor or his powers, therefore it was almost certain he would catch Hydra by surprise, overpower them, and be able to make a clean get away. Wanda in tow. 

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Bucky chuckled to himself and Darcy scooped another handful of cereal into her mouth. 

“Remind ‘ur self.” She quipped with her mouth full. 

Bucky’s face screwed up in disgust, “I can’t believe you’re eating that stuff dry. It’s like cardboard at the best of times.” 

“It’s healthy oats and wheat.” She argued playfully, “And without milk it doesn’t get soggy. So, mnah.” She stuck her tongue out at him; totally aware of the view of half chewed food she was flashing him. 

“Okay, now it’s undeniable.” He set about pouring himself a bowl of cereal. He cast her a glance over his shoulder as he retrieved the milk from the fridge. “You are definitely Maria-Sarah’s mother.” 

The similarity between her and one of her children being pointed out yet again made her smile and sit up a little straighter. She spoke without thinking. “If I ever let you near my vagina that’d be all the proof you’d need.” 

Bucky barked out a laugh and looked surprised at himself. He quickly schooled his features into ‘pleasant’ but not ‘happy’. However, she patted the stool next to her before he could think about leaving the room. “Sit.” 

“I uh--”

“That was not a request Barnes.” She told him with a calculating grin. “We need to dish.” 

He took a seat but seemed skittish and she couldn’t help but wonder what caused the shift. She decided provoking more laughter was the solution. It was supposedly medicine or whatever. “I’m dying to know about you and Steve and baseball.” 

His confused face was adorable. “Baseball?”

“Yeah, I wanna know who’s Babe Ruth and who’s Derek Jeter?” She nudged him with her elbow and was pleased when he didn’t move away. 

“What?” 

“Okay, so maybe I don’t know what position Ruth or Jeter play, but I assume one throws the ball and the other catches. They can’t both be famous for like, in field? Is that a thing? Being an in-fielder? Or outfielder? I don’t know baseball very well.” 

“What?” Bucky obviously did not understand her references. The comparison had made sense in her head, but admittedly it came out ineloquently so she got his reaction.

She leaned in close and lowered her voice until it was heavy with innuendo. “Are you a pitcher of the baseballs or the catcher of them?” 

“I don’t follow.” 

She couldn’t tell if he was messing with her or if he really didn’t get the metaphor. Dropping all pretenses Darcy spoke frankly. “When you and Steve are fucking, are you fucking him or is he fucking you? Inquiring minds want to know.”

Bucky’s cheeks went pink, but there was a frozen smile on her face that she thought he wasn’t offended, however before he could speak a shrill voice interrupted from the doorway. 

“MOM!” Alice stood with a mini-version of herself, just gaping at her and Bucky. Her eyes latched on to the tiny version of her daughter. It was Alice at age 3 and it was freaky as all hell, but also everything. 

The little girl’s eyes were wide and she had an absolute look of joy on her face as she screamed, “MY MOMMY REALLY IS ALIVE! AND SHE SAYS BAD WORDS!” 

Darcy couldn’t help but lament out loud, “And there goes my chance to make a good first impression.”   
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1st Floor= Living Room, Entrance to Workshop, Tony/Darcy bedroom(formally tony/darcy/steve), Winn’s room, Movie Room, Office, Dog Room, Kitchen, Guest Room (Steve’s old room)  
=================================================================  
Darcy/Tony Room  


Winn’s room  


2nd Floor= Communal Bedroom, Zoran Bedroom, Play Room, Tyr’s Room, Thor/Darcy Bedroom  
=================================================================  
Communal Bedroom   


Zoran Bedroom  


Play Room  


Tyr Bedrom  


Thor/Darcy Bedroom   


3rd Floor= Darcy’s Oasis, Alice’s Bedroom, Girl’s Playroom, Maria-Sarah Bedroom, Steve/Bucky Bedroom  
=================================================================

Darcy’s Oasis  


Alice’s Bedroom  


Girl’s Playroom  


Maria-Sarah Bedroom  


Steve/Bucky Bedroom  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? 
> 
> Plan to rescue Wanda?  
> Tony's efforts to make everyone feel welcome?  
> Tyr feeling the weight of all the changes?  
> Zoran and Winn's burgeoning friendship/brothership?  
> Bucky/Darcy interaction? 
> 
> Let me know in the comments!


	18. Chapter 18 - Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Maria-Sarah interact with the family for the 1st time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for continuing to read this long long long ass story.

Chapter 18 – Family Matters  
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“BUT ME WANT IT!” The little screamed at the top of her lungs. She was clinging to a large inner tube trying to tear it out of the arms of little Zoran. Her boy could have easily run away with the toy but he looked confused by the irrational three year olds demands. He was a good boy and wasn’t used to interacting with such a difficult child. 

“But I just got it. How about you can have it when I’m done?” Zoran offered.

“NOOOOOOOO!” The girl screeched making everyone wince. 

Prior to Maria-Sarah’s outburst they had been having a pleasant if not slightly awkward lazy pool day. After the initial meeting with her daughter in the kitchen her daughter seemed reluctant to be alone with her. And the rejection hurt Darcy’s heart like nothing she’d ever experienced. 

Maria-Sarah had clung to Bucky when Darcy offered to let the little girl give her a tour of her room, she thought the kid would love the chance to show off all her stuff and it would provide her the opportunity to bond with her, but her daughter refused. 

So, working around her daughter’s reluctance to be alone with her, she demanded everyone gather outside for a poolside family bonding day. Everyone was being very cooperative and the adults kept trying to push Maria-Sarah into spending time with her, but it seemed like their efforts were for naught. 

“ME DON’T WANNA SHARE!” The girl screamed as she attempted to tug the inflatable out of her half brother’s hands. In a snotty tone she declared, “It’s pink and donut shaped and special and IT’S MINE! LET GO YOU STINKY BOY FACE!”

Zoran cast her a forlorn look and Darcy grit her teeth trying to control her anger. Of course she was annoyed by Maria-Sarah’s selfish behavior, but it was Steve and his simpering tone which really pissed her off. She wanted to storm over snatch the toy away and set her daughter straight, give her a two minute time out or ban her from using pool toys for the rest of the day, or---just something! Address her bratty behavior somehow! And yet, she was trying to win the kid over, so she really could say and do nothing, but trust Steve to handle it.

“Hey buddy,” Steve put a hand on Zoran’s shoulder as he got down on one knee beside the fighting pair of children. “How about we let Maria-Sarah have the toy first, and then in five minutes it can be your turn?”

“But I got it out of the shed, I founded it and cleaned it off with the hose and blowed it up and--.” Zoran insisted, “She only wanted it when I finished all the work! I offered it to her before and she said ‘no it gross’.”

Maria-Sarah cut him off shouting, “You heard my daddy! GIVE IT TO ME!”

“Buddy,” Steve gave him a imploring look, “She really wants the toy. Do you want it as much as she does? Or is it no big deal?”

“I…” Her son looked over to her for guidance. She knew there was a grimace on her face but had no words for her son to take solace in. So she nodded at him and let him interrupt the action however he liked.

Zoran let the toy go. The little girl’s face lit up as she exclaimed, “Yay!” She then kissed her father on the cheek and said, “Thank you daddy.” 

And then that brat stuck her tongue out at Zoran tauntingly. He watched her listlessly as she jumped into the pool, toy in hand. Her resulting splash annoyed Alice who was lazing about in the sun by on her own float, but when the girl started swimming towards Bucky and Tyr, she paid her mini-me no other attention. While suiting up to swim, in confidence Alice had told her that she found her sister super annoying. Darcy had gently chastised/encouraged her to give the little girl another chance. Now she understood what her eldest meant.

Steve gently patted Zoran on the back. “Thanks buddy.”

Zoran pushed his hand off grumbling, “’m not your buddy.” 

He then ran away at super speed and Darcy found herself with an arm full of child. He whined pitifully as he hugged her around the middle and pressed his face into her chest. “Mama.”

Darcy wrapped him up in her arms and cuddled him close. “I know baby, that wasn’t fair. It was your toy and Steve shouldn’t have given it to Maria-Sarah, but you’re older and I am so proud of you for being the bigger person.” 

Zoran stuck his thumb in his mouth and turned his face so he could look up at hers. “I don’t wike them.”

She didn’t know what to say to that so she kissed his forehead and rubbed his back soothingly. “You are such a good boy Zoran. I love you.” 

“Love you too mama.” Zoran said around his thumb. 

“Hey,” Tony said gently from where he sat next to her on the lounge chairs. “I’m hungry, you two interested in some ice cream?” 

Zoran perked up; pulling his thumb from his mouth he looked at Tony with a hopeful expression. “Iced creams?” 

Tony gestured to the stairs, “I’ll need some help.”

Zoran sat up and jumped off of her, zooming to Tony’s side he jumped up and down enthusiastically. “I can help!” 

Silently Tony extending his hand and Zoran took it. He bent down to kiss her lips before leaving. She took the opportunity to whisper at him, “Thank you.” 

He answered her with a smile and a wink. Picking up Zoran he put the boy on his hip and started chatting to him about what flavor he wanted. Darcy watched them walk away with forced smile. She’d been worried about her families integrating from the beginning, but Tony and Winn got along with her Asgardian sons so well…she should have known better that there was no such thing as ‘smooth sailing’ when it came to her life.   
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When Tony and Zoran returned with ice cream for everybody the kids and soldiers climbed out of the pool and descended on the pair like ravenous wolves. And Darcy took advantage of the opportunity to have the pool to herself for a couple minutes.

Diving into the pool headfirst she quickly set herself up to float on her back and look up at the sky. The air was sticky with heat and it made the cool pool water just that much more refreshing. With her head half submerged the sounds of her family were dulled and she embraced the quiet while she could. She’d always wanted a big family, but she’d never imagined having one this large or this complicated. 

It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining and the sky was blue except for a couple of fluffy white clouds. It reminded her of Asgard in the summer. She let her mind drift to her daughter. 

Over the course of the afternoon she’d come to find Maria-Sarah was willful, stubborn, entitled, selfish, and greedy. Now that she knew her a little better the fact that she apparently reminded everyone of Darcy was a little insulting. However it was clear the girl was overly emotional, so she supposed the comparison wasn’t totally out of nowhere. She also had a gift for emotional manipulation. And, no surprise, had Steve wrapped around her little finger. 

He gave into her irrational demands, rewarded her for abhorrent behavior, and catered to her every complaint. He was smothering her in attention and it was turning her kid into an asshole and Darcy had yet to figure out how to tell him without it turning into a fight. Tony confessed he’d tried to tell Steve he needed to be more disciplined as a parent, but that conversation ended with punches being thrown, so he’d avoided the topic ever since. 

With a sigh she realized co-parenting was going to be the real challenge when it came to handling such a difficult chi--“CATCH ME!” 

Maria-Sarah’s shrill voice rang out breaking through the water’s dulling sound barrier, however even with the warning Darcy wasn’t ready for the three year old to throw herself into the pool. Or more accurately, at Darcy, who was lazily floating by unaware of the child’s intentions. Let alone that her demand was directed at her. 

The girl hit her like a sack of potato’s right in the gut. They both sank momentarily before Darcy gathered her wits and was able to get on her feet. Dragging the child up with her, the girl surfaced with a gasp and then she was crying.

Brooke and Chip were on the side of the pool barking at them and it just added to the noise and chaos of the moment. There was a big red mark on Maria-Sarah’s face and the girl was screaming her lungs out. She imagined belly flopping onto Darcy had done nothing to dull the pain of hitting the water straight on. 

“DADDY!” Maria-Sarah hollered as tears started pouring from her eyes. “ME WANT DADDY!” 

Her daughter thrashed unhappily in her arms silently demanding to be let go but Darcy held tight. The water was too deep, if she let the girl go as she wanted she wouldn’t be able to stand. “DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!” 

Darcy carried the screaming child to the pools edge where Steve was waiting with open arms. “Oh, honey! I told you not to do that. See? You got hurt!”

Chip barked angrily at Steve and Maria-Sarah, but Brooke fell silent as Steve cradled the girl close to his chest and comforted her even as she wailed loudly in his ear. “DADDDDDYY!” 

With her daughter now safe, Darcy was able to take stock of her own well being. Her hand went to her stomach, the small bump where her unborn child resided had taken the brunt of the impact. She couldn’t help but worry it might have hurt the baby. 

“Mom?” Alice sounded worried. She knelt by the pool’s edge and put her hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” 

A splash to her right distracted her. Tony was by her side in seconds; his hand went to cover her own on her stomach. “Did she hurt you? The baby?”

Tyr, Zoran, Winn, and Bucky were all standing just behind Alice. From their faces she could tell everyone was worried for her well being and it just made her mom instincts kick in. “I’m fine.” She assured them with a warm smile. “I’m totally fine.” 

Zoran and Winn looked relieved and they smiled at her but the others did not look convinced. 

“That girl is an overindulged hazard.” Tyr said bitterly. His eyes sliding over to Steve who was sitting on a chair with the girl in his arms trying to calm her down enough to let him look her over for injuries.

“Are you okay mom,” Alice repeated. “For real?” 

“I’m fine.” Darcy brushed off her daughters concern, but honestly she didn’t know if she was lying or not. She just knew she didn’t want the hate for her youngest daughter to grow any larger in her Asgardian children. “She just surprised me is all.” 

“She shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever she wants.” Winn said with a hardened look on his face. “It’s not fair and it’s dangerous.”

“Steve will handle her.” Tony assured his son. “He’ll make sure she never does it again.” 

“Honestly, the memory of her face hitting the water will probably be a more effective deterrent.” Bucky muttered as he ran a restless hand through his shaggy hair. 

“You need to promise me you won’t ever do that again. Okay baby.” Steve said in a gentle tone.

“Okay daddy.” Maria-Sarah tearfully sniffed. After a beat she asked, “Can me have another ice cream to make my face feel better?” 

“Sure honey.” When Steve over in her direction, she didn’t try to hide the fact that she was glaring daggers at him.   
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Tony and Steve had stretched a net across the pool and the whole group was playing a game of volley ball. They’d divided into two teams. Darcy, Bucky, Alice, and Maria-Sarah on one side. Tony, Steve, Tyr, Winn, and Zoran on the other. They’d even assigned themselves mascots with Brooke cheering for the girl heavy side and Chip rooting for the boys.

“Yes!” Alice gloated as the ball she hit whizzed past Tony’s face and scored them another point.

“Nice shot sweetheart.” Steve congratulated as he picked up the ball and passed it to Tyr to throw.

Darcy was participating with minimal enthusiasm as she’d much rather drink virgin daiquiris and float around, but the kids were having fun and very into the competitive nature of the ‘boys vs (mostly) girls’ dynamic. And for the first time all day everyone was kind of getting along. So if playing volleyball was what she had to do, play volleyball was what Darcy was going to do. 

That didn’t mean she had to like though. 

When a ball came flying over the net in her direction she made little effort to reach it. “Oh darn.” She said flatly as she waded to retrieve it. “Another point for the boys.” 

“Yay!” Winn and Zoran cheered out as they hugged. The sight was adorable and she was so pleased by how quickly the pair had bonded. 

Grabbing the ball Darcy got ready for her turn to volley it over the net when Maria-Sarah turned around and pointed at her before she could release the ball. “Listen up not dead mommy. We need to crush the boys.” She made a fist and slammed into the open palm of her other hand illustratively. “So you need to stop sucking and start winning.” 

“Hey.” Bucky said warningly. “Watch your language.” 

Maria-Sarah threw her hands up in the air defensively saying, “Me just telling truths!”

“Hey,” Alice said in a gently warning tone, “Be cool.” 

Maria-Sarah slammed her hands down on the water’s surface and mean mugged her older sister. “Me da coolest.”

Alice snorted at the little girl’s response and turned away from her dismissively. “Whatever.” 

The lack of reaction from Alice seemed to incense the three year old. With a sweeping motion of her arms she sent a big splash at the teenager. 

“Hey!” Alice wiped at the water on her face. “Knock it off.” Maria-Sarah increased her efforts to annoy her older sister, splashing with ferocity she screamed “Make me!”

“Enough!” Bucky said, but his voice was all but drowned out when the three year old started screaming.

“WHY YOU HERE IF YOU DON’T EVEN WANT TO BE MY SISTER YOU BIG DUMB PLUTO FACE?!” Maria-Sarah accused. “WHY YOU BRING BACK MY NOT DEAD MOMMY? WHY YOU HERE, HUH?!”

Instinct was screaming at her to step in and shut the girl’s tantrum down. To take her out of the environment and get her alone and talk to her, let her know that Darcy would listen to how she felt or rage or cry. Try to get some kind of explanation out of the three year old about why she was acting so horribly. Because her heart went out to the girl, it really did, it was clear to her now that Maria-Sarah had a lot simmering just under the surface. However her behavior was unacceptable. 

No child this young acted out just for the hell of it, she knew this. Darcy just had no idea how to deal with her daughter when the daughter in question barely knew who she was and her role as her ‘parent’ was tentative at best given how informally they’d all handled this particular ‘reunion’. 

And it was probably all her fault. Well, her and Steve’s. They didn’t properly explain Darcy’s return or her new role in Maria-Sarah’s life or how different their life would be moving forward. They just, moved forward and expected the girl not to freak out….they were idiots. 

The girls rage shifted over to the boys on the other team. She started splashing her sons through the net as she yelled, “GO HOME TO YOUR OWN HOUSE! ME DON’T NEED BROTHERS AND STUPID SISTER OR NOT DEAD MOMMY. WE DON’T WANT YOU! GO AWAY! GO! GO! GO!” 

She couldn’t let this continue. Maria-Sarah was out of control and it was clear to her that leaving disciplining her up to Steve was not working. Before anyone else could respond Darcy yelled sharply and loudly. “HEY!” Once she had the girls attention she spoke in her scary low ‘mom’ voice and said one word. “No.” 

“AHHHHHHHHH!” Maria-Sarah let out a scream of rage and began slapping the water splashing the water in all directions as she threw her little fit. “DADDY! DADDY! ME WANT DADDY!”

Darcy was a little taken aback. Had she used that tone on any other child she would have instantly diffused the situation. That voice even worked on her teenager! And here was this three year old identical version of Alice just throwing a shit fit and thinking ‘daddy’ would free her from any consequences.

When Darcy saw Steve move to intercept his daughter she threw the ball at his head and commanded, “Don’t you dare Steve Rogers.” 

He glared at her and ignored her words. Sweeping in like Prince fucking Charming, he picked up Maria-Sarah and hugged her close to his chest and started rubbing circles into her back. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m here. Daddy’s here honey.” 

“Put her down.” Darcy ordered, infuriated by Steve’s coddling.

“She’s upset.” Steve defended as he held their daughter even closer.

“So what? You do not get hugs and kisses and comforting words when you do something wrong. And throwing a tantrum like that, that’s wrong. And, it cannot be encouraged! Put her down Steve.” She said sternly.

“You don’t understand.” Steve excused. She was unable to control her growing anger, Steve’s words lit a fire and they exemplified exactly what he had been doing wrong all this time without her. She had to set him straight. “She’s a very sensitive child Darcy and--”

She exploded. “She’s a spoiled brat! A Veruca Salt in the making if I’ve ever seen one and I’m done biting my tongue about it.” Darcy closed the distance between her and the pair, “You need to put her down and she needs to get out of the pool for a three minute time out for her aggressive behavior.” 

“NOOOOOO!” Maria-Sarah lashed out scratching at Darcy’s face.

She jerked back as pain flared to life near her eye. Putting her hand over the tender spot Darcy back peddled, almost tripping on her own feet only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. One flesh, one metal.

“Y’alright doll?” Bucky asked with a deeply concerned expression. 

“Sweetheart!” Steve scolded, “That is not nice!” 

“WAHHHHHHHHH!” Maria-Sarah continued to wail and blubber. “SHE’S A BAD MOMMY! ME WANT HER TO GO BACK TO BEING DEAD!” With her uninjured eye Darcy watched the display with disgust. Steve was mollycodling her and trying to get her to calm down with overly permissive whispered words.

“You are ruining our daughter by loving her too much Steve!” She accused, regretting the words as soon as they left her lips, but not because she didn’t think they weren’t true. Just because she knew it was the ammunition Steve needed to start yelling back at her. 

The peanut gallery chiming also did not help. 

“She obviously lacks adequate parental influence in her life.” Tyr said haughtily. “You would do well to listen to my mother Rogers.”

“Seriously, she’s annoying as hell.” Alice unhelpfully commented. “And now she’s proven to be violent too.”

“And mean!” Winn added.

“Shh.” Tony shushed. 

Ignoring the others, Steve honed in on her words just like she knew he would. “Loving her too much?” He questioned in outrage, “You’re being ridiculous. You don’t even know her, how can you say she’s a brat? No wonder she thinks you’re a bad mother.” 

“That blonde monster in your arms thinks my mother is ‘bad’ because she dared purpose a consequence to her unruly actions!” Tyr defended her swiftly, “She is practically a wild animal and it is your spineless parenting which is the cause!” 

“Settle down kid.” Tony said trying to temper her son’s attempts to defend her honor. “Steve’s doing his best.” 

“Why are you defending him?!” Tyr exclaimed. “I know you agree with me! I know you hate him!” 

“You don’t know anything.” Tony responded soberly.

“Listen, I’m not saying she’s evil, but it’s obvious to everyone that my mini-me is a diminutive manipulation artist. And your falling for it.” Alice said confidently while glaring at Steve. “How are you this gullible Steve?”

Alice was taking it too far. And it was Darcy’s fault for flying off the handle in the first place. 

“She’s my daughter.” Steve answered firmly. “I am not gullible. I am not weak. I am her father. And I have been taking care of her successfully for three years and you all have no right to question my methods.” 

“You call this successful?” Alice challenged. Steve wasn’t at fault. Not entirely. They were _all_ doing their best. Darcy needed to remember that. And to set a better example for her children. 

“Alice!” Darcy said warningly. “Stop.”

“He’s delusional.” Alice argued. Switching tactics abruptly she abandoned her stern ‘mom’ voice approach.

“I thought you liked Steve now?” Darcy probed; Alice wasn’t a malicious girl so she knew her reaction was fueled by something, she only had to dig into her to find it. “Didn’t you have fun with him on your road trip? Learn what a good man he is? How much loves you? How much you love him, already?” 

“I did! I do! I—erg!” Alice exclaimed throwing her hands in the air, just as her sister had done earlier, “But this is crazy! That girl is supposed to be my twin but she’s nothing like me. She looks like me and she sounds like me, but she’s…she’s nothing like me.”

“You’d be surprised.” Darcy muttered under her breath, her words drowned out by Maria-Sarah screaming at her sister, “GOOD! ME GLAD ME NOT LIKE YOU!” 

Twisting in Steve’s hold she wriggled free of his arms and tried to attack Alice, but Steve kept hold of her arm trapping her in place. “YOU SUCK! I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU! GO AWAY! GO AWAYYYY!”

Steve tried to scoop her up in his arms once again, but Maria-Sarah lashed out at him as she had done to Darcy. Only her attack was less effective on Steve who evaded her slapping and scratching hands. 

“Can’t you see this kid is out of control and you’re not doing anything about it?” Alice said in a sad tone, everyone’s eyes locked on Maria-Sarah and her attempts to kick her father in the face as he held her aloft by her tiny wrists. Without looking back he walked her out of the pool. And then into the house.  
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As the sharp pain faded from her face Darcy removed her hand and blinked experimentally. She looked up at Bucky and asked with certainty of what his answer would be, “How’s it look? Will I be able to keep the eye?” 

“You’re bleeding.” He informed her, surprising her. 

“Really?” 

“Holy shit mom!” Alice rushed over to her side, “She scratched your eyelid!” 

“Okay, everyone out of the pool.” Tony declared. 

“No!” Darcy called out.

“Darce?” 

“Don’t—I don’t want the fun pool day to end just because of…it’s just a scratch. Everyone should stay, play another game, or break out the super soakers. I’ll go get a band-aid and come right back.” 

“A band-aid on your eye?” Winn questioned. “That’s not going to be very comfortable.” 

Darcy rolled her eyes at her three year olds intelligence. Tony gave her a long look and she knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.

“Liquor Lips, I think family activity time is kind of a bust. Let’s just cut our losses, eh?” Tony purposed with a frown. “We can all retreat to our corners, lick our wounds and try again another day.” 

“Give up on family fun time?” Darcy said aghast at the very notion.

“Crap.” Alice muttered. “Now she’s gonna double down on making us bond.” 

“Damn straight kid!” Darcy shouted pointing at Alice. 

Slowly she let her finger pointing travel to everyone else it the pool. “Nobody leaves.” Giving them the stink eye she declared, “When I come back, you all will be enjoying the beautiful fudging day or so help me I will cry all over your sorry faces! With snot and drool, I will cry on you!” 

Her threat made Zoran giggle and Winn and Tyr snigger. And she suddenly felt her mom mojo return.

“You are so weird.” Bucky commented as she backed out of the pool while maintaining her overly dramatic ‘mean’ expression and finger pointing. 

“I’m not weird, I’m eccentric and you find it adorable.” She flicked her wet hair over her shoulder and turned to walk away yelling, “Don’t even try to deny it!” 

Bucky chuckled, responding, “Wouldn’t dream of it doll.”   
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After applying a liquid band-aid and some Neosporin to her scratched eyelid, Darcy tracked down Steve and Maria-Sarah. They were in the girl’s room having a heart to heart. Through the cracked open door she spied on them unabashedly. 

“You know what you did was wrong, yes?” Steve prompted.

“But she wanted to put me in time out.” Maria-Sarah defended. “You never put me in time out.” 

“Maybe I should.” He said thoughtfully. “The way you acted was out of line. You hurt your mother and tried to hurt me.” 

“She was being bad to me!” The girl claimed, clinging to whatever reasoning she thought would cast Darcy in a bad light. “She and Alice don’t like me and they’s trying to make you not like me too.”

“I will always like you.” Steve comforted. “I love you. You’re my baby. My angel faced princess. No one could make me not love you. No one.”

“Not even not dead mommy?” 

“No one.” Steve asserted. “And by the way, it’s okay to just call her mommy. Or Darcy, if that makes you feel more comfortable.” 

“But, but, but, but, but what if she’s not really my mommy.” The girl was twirling her hair around her finger tighter and tighter. “You said my mommy’s dead. And now she’s alived? You said dead people are gone forever. What if she’s really a trick by the bad people?” 

“Darcy is the real Darcy.” gently unwound her hair from around her purpling finger. “And she’s your mother. And she wasn’t dead, I just thought she was…I was wrong.” 

“But--”

“Darcy loves you.” Steve picked her up and put her on his knee. “I promise she does and I wish you would give her a chance because she loves you just as much as I do, maybe even more.” 

Maria-Sarah’s face screwed up in a look of ‘get real’ and it was so adorable and reminiscent of Alice that Darcy felt her heart squeeze in her chest.

“If she really loved me she would have been here with us instead of on Asgerg with Alice.” Darcy felt her eyes grow wet as Maria-Sarah spilled her soul to her father. “She picked Alice over me because me am bad and Alice is good and she knowed it even when me was a tiny baby! And that’s why you getted sad when me used to ask about her. You knowed it too. And now Alice and Darcy is gonna steal you away from me.”

“You are not bad.” Steve said with tears welling up in his own eyes. “You are not bad, you hear me? You just…you have a lot of feelings inside you. And you have a hard time communicating them calmly. Sometimes you just express yourself in unhealthy ways. But I understand. I understand you honey.” 

“You gonna love Alice more than me.” Maria-Sarah insisted. “That why you left me alone for a billion days!”

“You weren’t alone, you had Uncle Bucky and Auntie Pepper, and it was a week.” Steve reminded her flatly.

Maria-Sarah rolled her eyes and it made Steve smirk. “Alice and Darcy will never steal me away from you. I promise to be your daddy first and always…Do you believe me?” 

The girl looked down and avoided Steve’s gaze. 

“Maria-Sarah?” He prompted. 

“Me believe you.” Her daughter mumbled. “Me love you Daddy.” 

“Hug?” Steve asked opening his arms open wide. Maria-Sarah looked up at him with a bright smile and jumped into his arms.

“How about we go to the kitchen and get a handful of chocolate chips?” Steve suggested, “Would that make you feel better?”

Darcy felt her blood turn into ice in her veins. She was so pissed at Steve in that moment. He had done exactly what she had wanted to do, take their daughter to a different location and talk to her and figure out what was going on in her head, she was so proud of him. But to end the conversation with fucking chocolate?! A reward for nearly gouging out her eye? That was not only stupid, it was reckless. It taught their daughter that violence was consequence free as long as you talked about your feelings afterwards. And that did not work for Darcy.

Slamming open the door to the room the pair of them jumped as she shrilly demanded, “That’s it?!” 

“Darcy--”

She felt Steve’s incompetence as a parent was undeniable at this point and she had half a mind to sign them up to be on Super Nanny. “This child has been rude, selfish, and violent and you offer her chocolate chips as a reward for this behavior? What kind of father are you!?”

Maria-Sarah rushed to her father’s defense. “HE’S THE BEST KIND OF DADDY EVER AND YOU ARE A MEAN BAD MOMMY AND DON’T YOU SHOUT AT MY DADDY ANYMORE!” 

“I’m not shouting.” She responded, her eyes glued on her daughter. “And you are undisciplined and out of control, and it’s understandable given all the—everything, but at the same time it’s unacceptable.” 

“Me am angel faced princess! You’re just a bully.” The girl stomped her foot on the floor and folded her arms in front of her chest with a stubborn pout on her lips. In that moment she looked exactly like a mini-Captain America. And suddenly Darcy knew she had messed up. Again. She looked over at Steve and found him looking lost, but also disappointed in her. 

Ashamed of how poorly she had acted and handled everything, she looked down at the floor and thought about what she needed to say to make it right.

“You is a bad mommy!” Maria-Sarah shouted, “See Daddy?! She think me bad! She want you to think me bad too!” 

Darcy took a few steps closer to the pair and then got down on her knees so she was eye to eye with her daughter. 

“I’m not a bad mommy.” She began, when Maria-Sarah opened her mouth to interrupt or disagree, Darcy held up her hand and made a ‘bubp, bubp’ noise to stop her. “Let me speak? Please?” When her daughter didn’t agree, she pointed to her injured eye and reminded the girl, “You scratched my face, you owe at least an conversation.” 

“Ugh, fine.” 

Darcy’s eyes flickered up to Steve and he looked down at her with desperate eyes, but there was a flicker of hope there and she vowed not to disappoint him. “I’m not a bad mommy,” She repeated, “but you’re right Maria-Sarah I haven’t been very good to you so far. I--I overheard you talking with Steve before. And he told you that I love you and it didn’t sound to me like you believed him. Do you know how much I love you?” 

Maria-Sarah kept the scowl in place as she said, “My daddy isn’t a liar, but me know you don’t like me.”

“I don’t know you.” Darcy said gently. “But I am hard wired in my soul to love you. And I do. I love you even though I don’t know you, I love you. And, I’d like to know you and love you and be your mommy for the rest of my life.” 

The hardened expression faltered on her daughters face. “You left me. You wasn’t dead which means you choosed to go. You _left_ me.” 

“I didn’t mean to leave, I’d change it if I could.” 

Insistent her daughter spoke louder as if she could disagree with Darcy more just by sheer volume. “You picked Alice because I was a bad baby and you left me and daddy alone here without you!”

“Alice got stuck inside me when she was being born; I was dying and I had to go away or she would have died. We both would have died if I hadn’t left.” She explained hoping Steve hadn’t told her babies got delivered by a stork or some other bullshit. “I didn’t leave you alone on purpose. And not getting to see you grow up these past three years makes me very, very, sad and sometimes it makes me angry too.”

“Me get sad and angry a lot.” Maria-Sarah admitted with a downturned pout. 

“Oh honey.” Steve exclaimed, he got down on his knees and sat back on his heels to pull Maria-Sarah into his arms. Half standing on her own, half leaning against Steve’s broad chest, their daughter looked close to tears.

“Sorry me scratched you.” Her daughter apologized sounding sincere.

“I accept your apology and I hope you’ll never do it again.” Darcy scratched her eyebrow hoping to draw the child’s attention to her injury and subtly remind her actions have consequences. “Also, I’m sorry I made you feel unwanted. I thought—your daddy and I didn’t think this whole thing out very well. Or well, we did, but then you got stuck in traffic and we failed to come up with a plan B.” 

Reaching out she put a hand on the girls shoulder and felt a tear slip past her control. “You’re very different than my other children and I guess, I just didn’t realize the way I approach you should also be different.”

“Different how?” Maria-Sarah asked sounding especially vulnerable. 

“You’re more like me.” Darcy told her with a mischievous grin. Her daughter’s face lit up for a second before she controlled it and affected an aloof expression. She gentled her voice as she explained, “I don’t like others to know when I’m feeling hurt or sad or feel left out or less than….or not good enough. So, I pretend I don’t feel those things and I bottle up my emotions until they just can’t be contained any longer. And they explode out of me.” 

The cool expression melted off her daughter’s face. “Really? Daddy says that’s what happens to me too.”

“I know.” She and Maria-Sarah stared at each other for a few seconds of silence. 

And then Darcy said, “I love you Maria-Sarah Darcy Rogers. You are my baby. My angel faced princess. I loved you before I even met you. I will never stop loving you. Nothing you ever do could change the way I feel about you. And I am so, so, so happy to finally be here with you. To get the chance to know who you are and be in your life, however you’ll have me.”

“…I’ve always wanted a mom.” Maria-Sarah whispered. 

She could tell her daughter was hesitant to trust that what she was saying was true, but she wanted to believe. And Darcy could work with that. 

Standing up she offered the little girl her hand, “Wanna help me collect some towels and bring them outside for everyone?”

The girl pouted up at her. “Pool time is over?” 

“It will be soon.” Darcy warned, “But I think helping with a chore might make you feel better after what you did.” 

Her daughter took her hand. “Okay.” 

“Okay.” She and Steve exchanged a smile before Darcy led the girl out of the room.  
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Maria-Sarah was well behaved for the rest of the day, relatively speaking. However, after dinner she was a demanding little brat for bedtime. Darcy shadowed Steve as he gave in to her every whim, but when the girl politely requested a bedtime lullaby from her not dead anymore mommy, Darcy was loath to do anything but obey.

The girl got three songs out of Darcy, two stories out of Steve, a glass of water, a trip to the potty, two additional stuffed animals to sleep with and then another song, before finally falling asleep. And as she and Steve tip toed out of the bedroom of the sleeping child Darcy felt like such a hypocrite. 

She tried to remember if any of the other kids had given her this much trouble when being put down to bed, but nothing came to mind. Once the door was closed securely behind them, she used a hushed tone to say, “Dude, Maria-Sarah is so extra I can’t even.”

Steve snorted and leaned against the wall outside their daughter’s room, Darcy moved copy his pose on the opposite side of the doorway. He conceded, “She is very willful.”

“Demanding.” Darcy corrected without thinking. Steve’s eyes got a little squinty and she knew it was because he was bothered by her frankness. She fixed him with a serious look. “Things are going to have to change with how you deal with her.”

“Don’t you mean ‘we’?” Steve rolled onto his shoulder so he could look at her head on. Again, she mirrored his pose. “I wasn’t the only one in that room submitting to the demands of a tiny adorable tyrant.”

Darcy looked down but couldn’t hide her grin. “Yeah okay. Today, I gave in. She made herself emotionally vulnerable and communicated and yes I’ll admit it, I want her to like me so yes. Today I cut her some slack, but tomorrow? We have to establish a strict nightly routine and behavior modification plan and we need to be a united front that does not buckle no matter how many crocodile tears she spills.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Steve scoffed.

“You don’t think being stricter will work to curb her bad behaviors?” She questioned, truly wanting to know his view on the issue. She personally believed in reward and punishment whole heartedly. 

He half smiled as he responded, “I believe it’ll work….I’m just not sure you’ll have the stomach for it.” 

It was her turn to scoff. “Please, I’ve had so many babies; I am immune to cuteness. I only give in to tears and whining if someone’s bleeding more than a thimbleful. And even then, it’s fifty-fifty.”

“Yeah, yeah, you say that now.” Steve teased.

Darcy grabbed his hand really wanting to be on the same page. “Steve? I’m serious. That kid needs structure and discipline and someone to tell her ‘no’. You get that right?”

Steve swallowed and nodded. His other hand wrapped around hers warming her, pulling her toward him a step he spoke in a low timber. “Its—I know I’m too—I make excuses when she’s rude. I let her dictate what she wants to eat. I give in to her demands and whining and when she cries—it breaks my heart when I see her cry and I just do whatever she wants to make it stop, but its—I’m not unaware that I’m being manipulated. I just--for her whole life I thought she was the last piece of you I’d ever have. And I treasured her for it.”

A noise escaped her throat that involuntary and halfway between a squeak and a whimper. She pulled her hand free of his and wrapped her arms around his slim waist. “I get that.” She said into his broad chest. “But I’m back now.” 

His arms wrapped around her and the familiar strength and warmth that was _Steve_ seeped into ever part of her body that was connected to his. She laid her head gently on his chest and breathed in deeply. He still wore the same aftershave, pine fresh and outdoorsy. If she closed her eyes she could pretend—he spoke and her eyes popped open. “I’m so glad your back. And, I know things have to change. I want them too even. I’m just…” 

“Change is hard.” She finished his thought for him and he nodded. And suddenly their embrace felt inappropriate. She retreated and hugged herself as she took a step back and looked up at Steve’s face. She saw ‘longing’ written across his features and it broke her heart for reasons she couldn’t explain.

“Change is hard.” He agreed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. She thought he would leave at that, but he surprised her. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and said, “But sometimes it’s for the better.”

“I hope so.” She responded quickly. 

“Me too.” 

“Good night.”

“Good night.” 

And then they parted ways.   
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Darcy woke up to the sound of a piercing beeping noise. Before her brain was back ‘online’ she was speaking. “Wha--? Jarv, is fire? Kids!”

“Fire?” Tony drowsily repeated.

“Sir, Miss Darcy, there is no immediate danger.” Jarvis said in a calming tone as the piercing alarm ceased. Darcy breathed a sigh of relief but then Jarvis spoke again, this time his voice more strident. “However it is imperative that you awaken at once.” 

“Why?” Darcy whined as she threw the sheet over her face. 

“The weather alert for immense and unpredicted electrostatic discharge has been tripped in Sokovia.”

“Sokovia?” Tony asked as he let out a yawn but sat up and got out of bed and came around to her side. “Never heard of it.” 

“It is a landlocked country in Central-Eastern Europe, bordered by Slovakia and the Czech Republic.” Jarvis informed them bookishly. 

Her thoughts were sluggish, but as she followed Tony’s lead and got out of bed, it struck her what all Jarvis’s big words _meant_. “Thor’s back!”

Tony grabbed her hand and pulled her onto her feet. He gave her a tired grin and a peck on the cheek before declaring, “And he’s rescuing Wanda as we speak.”

“So, pants?” 

“Pants.” Tony agreed.   
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Pool time (felt weird about using RDJ actual kid so I blurred his face) Also angel wing float is what Alice was lazing around on, donut is what Zoran and Maria-Sarah were fighting over  


Brooke got a mention in this chapter but I didn’t showcase her and Darcy’s reunion (sorry) but it was touching and the dog totally recognized her and now is as big as like…a lion? Idk. Brooke is just super big dog, k?  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so we are ramping up to the 3 and final act people! I hope you are ready for the THUNDER!


	19. Chapter 19 - Scarlet Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda comes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the unexpected wait between chapters. I have recently started selling things on the Poshmark app and it's eaten up a lot of time. I literally spent 2 Saturdays in a row doing a photo shoot for all the stuff I want to sell.  
> SO, I've decided to plug that now because I've become addicted to the idea of getting $$$ money for all the clothes and things I don't wear/need anymore.
> 
> If you use the invite code WICKED17WRITER to sign up for Poshmark you will receive $10 to spend on whatever you want!   
> & bonus! you can look me up on the app and buy some of my crap!...I mean pre-loved treasures...I also am selling a lot of stuff new with tags.   
> So....POSHMARK!   
> Hell yeah, BLATANT SELF PROMOTION!!!!!

Chapter 19 – Scarlet Thunder

Steve assembled the team and the ‘Avengers’ as Tony like to say, flew to the other side of the world to retrieve Thor and her missing friend Wanda. Her Asgardian children wanted to go but Darcy put her foot down. She had no idea what kind of state Wanda would be in after so long in Hydra’s evil clutches, but she was bound to be a little fucked up. Bucky supported her on this and really he would know, so she and the children were left behind to wait.

She was relieved when Bucky offered to stay behind with them. She didn’t think walking back into the belly of the beast was the best thing for his mental state. And, she didn’t want to be alone. Relatively speaking. 

“What are you doing up?” Bucky asked as he came upon her in the kitchen. He sounded genuinely surprised which she understood, she was a notoriously late riser. 

She rubbed at her swollen baby bump. “Morning sickness woke me around 3am. Couldn’t go back to sleep after that.” 

Bucky began puttering around the kitchen. “Didja eat?”

“Some cereal.” She answered distractedly. Her eyes were locked on the view out the window; it had been two days since the boys had left to pick up Thor and Wanda. Two days of waiting and watching the horizon for signs of the Quinjet coming home.

Jarvis kept her up to date but sometimes she wished he wouldn’t. Knowing what was going on half a world away with no way to help? It was its own unique brand of torture.

It had taken the guys half a day to find where Thor was, they found him in Sokovia where he had already laid waste to most of the bad guys. The ‘Avengers’ barely had any bad guys to beat up when they arrived, Tony was almost disappointed after going through some of the files on what had been done to Wanda.

Hydra had stolen her and Scott’s baby and sent it off to be used elsewhere. The files on the babies fate were purposefully vague, however they were able to deduce it wasn’t terminated. That would be a ‘waste’ of potential resource and Hydra wasn’t that careless. Tony assumed the baby was to be raised to be a future Nazi operative a la the ‘red room’ which had helped create Natasha. The redhead had a few ideas on how to track down the three year old which at least gave them hope that this horrible story could end semi-happily.

It turned out that in Hydra’s clutches Wanda had been drugged on and off for the past three years. In that time they had impregnated her three times. All the while pregnant she had been experimented on with various super solider serum concoctions and made to test her mutant abilities. 

Tony found a butt load of footage of these ‘tests’ on the bad guy’s servers. Wanda killed a lot of red shirts during these ‘tests’ and yet Hydra kept pushing her seemingly uncaring of the cost of human life. And even then it was obvious she was only using a fraction of her true power due to the drugs they gave her to keep her sedated. In the end Hydra saw Wanda as a weapon, one they hoped to replicate through her progeny, and they treated her accordingly. As an object. As tool. As a thing they could use and discard when finished with her. 

And that broke Darcy’s heart. 

Part of the reason the return was taking so long was because they were mountains of information to copy and sift through. And so, she stared out the window, waiting.

“Darcy?” Bucky prompted. 

She tore her eyes away from the sunrise just cresting over the horizon. “What?”

“Are you okay?” His eyes were filed with concern, his lips a grim line across his face.

Unthinking she brushed her fingertips across his lips trying to erase the tension she saw there. He let her. And that was, odd. Oddly intimate. He stepped closer and she let her hand drop limply to her side. He peered into her face with an air of impersonality, his eyes searching for signs of…something. She didn’t know what.

“You’re not okay.” He concluded as he stepped away from her and turned back to whatever he was making at the stove. 

“No.” She agreed. “I’m not okay.”

“I’ll make you something to eat.”   
.

.  
Scott arrived in the afternoon. Their reunion was tear filled and dour. She’d insisted he be kept in the loop on Wanda’s progress home. 

They’d collapsed in the foyer, hugging and crying and not saying a word for a very long time.   
.

.  
By sunset they got word that the team was coming home. 

At dawn the Quinnjet touched down on the helipad. Darcy hadn’t slept at all and exhaustion pulled at her mind. Blinking back tears she watched with Bucky and Scott by her sides as first Natasha, then Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Thor exited the jet. 

Her husband held out his arms and Tony ushered a vacant looking Wanda forward into his strong hands. Thor put her on her feet and Tony hurried to be at her other side. They took the girl’s elbows and guided her as the group head towards the house. 

“She looks good.” Scott asserted with pain coloring his every word. “Doesn’t she look good?”

“She looks good.” Darcy parroted back, but it was a lie. A lie Scott needed to tell himself. 

Darcy remembered Wanda as being gorgeous and youthful and thin and lithe. A young woman on the verge of coming into her power and motherhood. Happy. She remembered Wanda being so happy…

She looked like she’d aged ten years even though it had only been three. Gone was her svelte and healthy figure, Wanda looked about nine months pregnant and yet severely undernourished. Her hair was limp and looked dirty and patchy. Her skin had a sallow yellow tint. Her eyes looked sunken in and gaunt and vacant. The closer the group got the worse her friend looked.

Her lips were chapped and bleeding in some places. Her fingernails were crusted with dried blood. There were scars around her wrists.

“Wanda.” Scott breathed out her name when she was close enough to touch. The woman’s eyes looked at them unseeing.

“She’s still got a lot of drugs in her system to work out.” Bruce informed them as he gestured for them to move aside, “I’m going to get her on an IV and she’s going to need rest before we attempt communicating with her again.” 

With the edge of panic in his voice Scott demanded, “But she’s okay? Right?”

“She will be.” Steve comforted as he clapped Scott on the shoulder. They stood watching as Tony and Thor, led by Bruce, hustled Wanda inside the mansion. “We’ll make sure of it.” 

“None of this okay.” Darcy muttered as she followed the group inside.  
.

.  
The children had been delight to discover their father had returned. She was glad too, but most of her thoughts were preoccupied with Wanda and what had happened to her and…Thor seemed to understand. And for his return she also felt relief, because with him around she didn’t have worry about her Asgardian children running amok. He could keep them in line. Thor was her rock. She had faith that with him and Tony and Steve and Bucky, she could allow herself a brief reprieve from holding the family together and just focus on her friend. 

She and Scott sat vigil at her bedside for most of the day. Bruce came in and out to check on her vitals and switch out her IV, but beyond Tony and Thor coming in once or twice to check up on her and force her to eat something, they were left alone. To grieve the life that had been stolen from Scott and Wanda.

“I should have fought harder.” Scott muttered as he stroked the cloth in warm water and wrung it out. They were cleaning up Wanda as best they could. Darcy continued to gently scrape under Wanda’s fingernails, getting rid of the dirt and blood and debris that had built up. 

Scott had been blaming himself and crying off and on since they started. She didn’t think he wanted her to argue with him, because it was how he felt. He felt like what happened to Wanda was his fault and no matter the logic, he would probably always feel that way. So she said nothing and continued with her task.

Scott wiped away at the dirt and grime covering Wanda’s slender neck. She was scarred there. She must have been collared around the neck and wrists by…she didn’t even know, but the markings looked permanent. 

Silently weeping Scott continued to berate himself. “I never deserved her. I was a fool to think we could ever be—I let this happen to her. I should have fought harder.” 

Deep down in the darkest part of her heart, she thought the same thing. Scott had been overwhelmed and outmatched but he was the one by Wanda’s side when Hydra came for her. He fought and he lost and this was the result. She wanted to blame him. Just so she wouldn’t have to blame herself. 

Like Scott, she would probably always feel responsible for what happened to Wanda. It was through their association that Hydra targeted the young mutant for capture and experimentation. It could be argued that if it wasn’t for Darcy and her desperation for connection and friends, that Wanda and Scott would have lived happily ever after. 

“I should have pushed you two away.” She said quietly, finally giving voice to her own feelings of guilt. “I knew something weird was up when my Citizen’s Duty matches were tampered with. Bucky was sent to me by Hydra and when I didn’t choose him they erased all evidence of his ever being there. And with Steve being who he is and how high profile Tony is, I should have known-- _I did know_ that being my friend was dangerous. And yet I loved you. And her. And kept inviting you deeper and deeper into my world. My orbit. And that’s how they found her. The night of the shooting by the pool, Wanda used her powers and that was it. Hydra began planning to take her because of me…if not for me they would have never targeted her.” 

“Probably.” Scott acknowledged darkly. There was a sting of pain in her heart at his words and tears began to leak from her eyes as she moved on to cleaning under Wanda’s index finger. She hoped Scott didn’t really blame her like she didn’t really blame him. Even though irrationally, she did blame him a little. For being too weak. For not fighting harder. For not finding her faster. She hoped like her Scott needed someone to blame that was outside himself and he didn’t really hate her. 

“We should have gone our separate ways after the Citizen’s Duty process.” He said his voice filled with malice. “You’re right, being your friend cost us our child. Just like it cost Hope her baby too.”

His wielded his words like knives and she couldn’t help but whimper. Looking up she hoped to see regret on his face. Instead she found Scott staring down at Wanda’s looking broken. Just, totally devastated. 

He looked like a man who had lost everything and now just felt lost. She couldn’t relate at all. Her life had literally never been better. Her family was now fully reunited. She was pregnant again. Home again. In love. Happy. Whole. 

No. She couldn’t relate to the way Scott felt at all, but she empathized. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. His eyes flickered over to her and his expression grew cold and ashamed all at once. 

“I’m sorry too.” He looked down at his hands, at the rag that was once white but was now brown. “I didn’t mean that.” 

“You did.” She challenged not unkindly. “And that’s okay. You’re right, this—if you work backwards I’m to blame. Her knowing me is the root cause of what’s happened to her. Happened to you both.” 

“Maybe.” Scott said with sadness. But he reached out over Wanda’s body and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “But you’re still my best friend.” He gestured down to Wanda with his head. “And hers too.” 

He removed his hand and tossed the dirty towel into the bowl of water. Frustrated he pulled at his hair. He looked like he wanted to scream. And she kind of wished he would. 

“Not us—it’s ego to think we--” He seemed to have trouble finding the right words. Tension was written into every muscle of his body. And then slowly, his eyes met hers and she saw clarity in them. “It was the Fucking Nazi’s.” He said quietly. “Not us. We love her. They hurt her. And that’s it. That’s all there is.” 

“Fucking Nazi’s.” She echoed.

“Fucking Nazi’s.” Scott repeated, then with a hitch in his voice he said, “Evil a-assholes who take a good and innocent person who is kind and sweet and they just—they turned her into this!” 

He balled up his hands into fists and pressed them to his eyes, but he was crying and he couldn’t stop it. He was in so much pain she yearned to ease it. “I wish I had been there,” he said, “but I wasn’t. If things were different, if we had made better choices, been smarter or stronger—it doesn’t fucking matter! Fuck self loathing and blame. That shit is irrelevant. Right?”

“Right.” She affirmed. 

Scott was sobbing now. “She matters; she’s the only thing that matters now. Helping her, making her f-feel safe again. Like that’s even possible!….” He broke down in front of her eyes and for a second she felt the urge to flee and leave him to his grief. But that wasn’t who she was. 

That wasn’t what he needed.

Anger seemed to surge as Scott picked up the bowl of water and threw it against the wall just behind her head. It shattered and she felt the sting of one of the pieces hitting her in the back but she remained motionless. Scott was speaking to her but not really, he cried out accusingly. “Why didn’t I protect her from this?! Why didn’t I find her! Why didn’t you call me so I could save her and kill those fucking bastards with my bare hands!? WHY!?” 

He collapsed in on himself just as suddenly. His shoulders hunched over as sobs wracked his body and his anger ebbed away like the tide. 

Darcy abandoned her cleaning tools and walked around the bed to where he was sitting. She wrapped her arms around Scott and cried with him. Held him. Offered him what little comfort she could. 

And she mourned with him. 

He clung to her and she clung to him right back. They were arguably the people in this world who loved Wanda most of all. They would always feel responsible and they would always blame each other and know who was really to blame. 

“Fucking Nazi’s.” She whispered.

“Fucking Nazi’s.” He grunted back.  
.

.  
Under Bruce’s medical care it took three days for Wanda to wake up and be coherent. 

It took them two days to convince her she wasn’t dead, it wasn’t a Hydra trick or a test. When she finally believed them, believed she’d at long last been rescued, she fell apart.

Scott was strong for her. Held her. Comforted her. Mourned with her. Stayed with her until she was empty of tears and sorrow and gave in to exhaustion and the thoughtless reprieve it offered.  
.

.  
Darcy found Tony in the workshop with Thor and Steve. She’d just escaped the kitchen where Tyr and Alice had been waiting for her, her children had forced her to eat a very large and nutritious lunch. 

At that point Wanda had been back with them for a week and she would freely admit she hadn’t been taking the best care of herself. So consumed with worry and concern for friend Darcy had been a near constant presence at the younger woman’s bedside. Along with Scott. 

Her friend’s memory was a garbled mess of pain and torture and hell. And she was beside herself with grief for her lost children. No, not lost. Stolen. Her stolen children. 

Wanda wanted to track them down and take them back. However her poor physical condition was at odds with her willpower. Bruce had put her on mandatory bed rest after determining from the files they’d confiscated and a brief exam, Wanda would soon give birth. Perhaps for the first time.

There were a multitude of scars on the young woman’s stomach that indicated that all the pregnancies she had so far had been delivered via C-section. After learning this Wanda wanted to give birth to her latest baby the natural way. Just so it would be a different experience than the drugged hell she’d suffered at the hands of Hydra. Bruce was worried a vaginal birth would kill her, but Wanda was determined. And so, she remained in bed where Scott and Darcy waited on her hand and foot. 

That morning Wanda had banished them both for smelling bad. After her shower, her children had cornered her. When she’d returned to Wanda’s room she found her and Scott whispering quietly in bed while engaged in a tight embrace. She knew her presence would be intrusion so she wandered. 

The younger kids were outside by the pool with Rhodes, Sam, and Bucky. They looked like they were having fun and she knew if she tried to join she would only bring the mood down. Her mind was still filled with thoughts of Wanda’s stolen children and all the horrible things she’d been forced to suffer and the questions still yet to be answered about that suffering. 

Eventually, looking for a man who loved her, she found her way downstairs to the workshop. 

“Darcy?” Steve said catching sight of her first. “Is everything alright?”

“I needed a break.” She admitted. “The kids forced me to eat and then I wanted--” Thor didn’t let her finish her sentence. He swept her up in his arms bridal style and kissed her. 

As their lips parted he rumbled, “I love you.” 

She patted his cheek with a small smile. “Yeah, that’s what I wanted.” 

Steve cleared his throat loudly. “In that case, you might want to go back upstairs---”

Tony quickly cut him off. “Yeah, why don’t you and Thor go christen the bed in your room? You’ve barely seen him for more than five minutes since he came back and now you don’t smell. So, perfect timing!” 

Suspicious she narrowed her eyes at her earthly lovers. “Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

“I’m not trying to get rid of you,” Tony defended smoothly; “I’m trying to facilitate a hot hook up with you and your alien hubbie.” 

“I have missed you my love.” Thor whispered as he leant in and smelled her still damp hair. The heat of his skin was comforting and she leaned in to let him press kisses under her jaw and down her neck. “Let us away as your man Stark suggests. I would indeed love to christen our new home..he is referring to sex, yes?” 

Giving in to the distraction was tempting, but feelings of remorse and shame flooded her system. Being happy while Wanda was still so steeped in despair and loss felt like a betrayal. 

“Put me down.” Darcy demanded flatly. Thor obeyed but pouted about it. She glared at Tony. “You’re trying to hide something from me.”

“Nuh-uh.” Tony denied childishly.

Steve took a step forward and met her gaze with what she liked to refer to as his ‘I’m Captain America, so listen up’ confidence. “We’re reviewing the information we collected from the Hydra base. Reading what happened to Wanda to better understand and help her recovery moving forward. ..It’s a lot Darce. Now may not be the best time for you to learn --”

“I can handle it.” She insisted.

“I know you can.” Steve said with bow of his head. “You’re the strongest person I know.”

His confidence in her made her smile a little. “Then why…?”

Thor supplied the answer. “The details are gruesome, my love.” His arm slipped around her back and he pressed a hand to her stomach newly swollen with his child. “What was done to your friend was an atrocity and in your delicate condition we would not have you burden your mind and heart with the details of the depravity she was subjected to.” 

She put her hand on top of Thor’s on her stomach, seriously considering his words. Her eyes gravitated over to Tony looking for confirmation. “It’s that bad?”

“Yeah.” He answered somberly. 

“We’re—Bucky offered to help but I asked him to stay away too.” Steve offered. “So um. It’s not just us ganging up on you because you’re a woman. If that’s any consolation.”

“We just want to protect you.” Thor said.

Reflexively she snapped at him. “I don’t your protection.” A second later her anger and indignation waned and she softened. “But I appreciate it.” 

Voicing his opinion plainly Tony said, “I think you should wait. You don’t need to know this shit right now.”

She knew the answer but still felt compelled to ask the question. “But you’re going through the files in hopes of finding out where Wanda’s kids were taken. Right?” Tony and Steve nodded. 

“So it’s important.” She concluded. “It’s a gruesome and important job that can actually _help_ save Wanda’s stolen babies. This is something I could actually _do_. Something I could contribute.” 

Steve began, “Honey, we don’t need you--” but Tony cut him off. “Darcy. Listen to me. This is some disturbing shit. You should let us comb through the files on our own, if we have to we’ll bring in Nat or maybe even Agent May for an assist. We’ll find out where Wanda’s kids are and save them. I promise. Baby, you don’t need this in your head too.” 

“But I do.” She stared at him defiantly. “You know I do.” 

“I know.” He said quietly. 

Thor’s hand on her back began rubbing circles. “Are you certain my love? Knowing in detail what happened to your friend, it will be a difficult emotional undertaking. It will burden your heart with more sorrow than you’ve ever known and bring to your mind haunting images you may never be able to expunge.” 

She stepped away from Thor towards Tony and Steve and the paper files scattered on the table behind them. “I’m certain.”   
.

.  
Darcy learned a lot of things from reading the Hydra files. Most of it was sad and tragic and stomach turning, but there were nuggets of hope every now and then. Such as, Scott and Wanda’s baby lived. And it was a boy. 

Sent to be raised by a wealthy and more importantly fanatically loyal Hydra couple, she found a lot of hope in what was categorized as a ‘hands off’ approach to developing what was dubbed by Hydra as the _Organic Citizen’s Duty Asset_. There was only one reference to the identity of the couple their baby was given to; in cramped cursive in the margins of one document about the baby’s placement someone had written ‘*VIP officer Nazi Schutzstaffel?’. But beyond that there was very little information on the child compared to the others. 

Given less than a month to recover, Hydra was quick to impregnate Wanda again. They used artificial insemination to fill her up with enhanced sperm ‘donated’ by one of Hydra’s super secret assets. Darcy secretly hoped and dreaded finding out the identity behind that sperm in particular. The text was vague but heavily implied the contributor was someone like Bucky. She found hints peppered throughout the files about _M Class Enhanced Asset A_ ‘meeting established expectations’ and ‘improving on a proven assets loyalty’.

The baby from the enhanced sperm resulted in a little girl. And juxtaposed with Scott and Wanda’s baby, there were lots of notes on the kid over the years in the files. Very scientific notes were taken about how much the baby weighed, how long it was, what color its eyes were, how loud it screamed upon being born, but also other little things. Like how it took to the bottle, which scientists it seemed to favor, how it responded to specific music. The more and more Darcy read about Wanda’s daughter, the clearer it became that she was in the hands of scientists and being tracked and trained to participate in something called the ‘Centipede Project’ where further ‘enhancements’ would be trust upon her as she grew older. 

There was a one paged document detailing a sanction against Brock for attempting to rape and impregnate Wanda against Hydra’s evils plans for her. He got ratted out by a lowly scientist. Received a slap on the wrist for his actions and was reassigned far away from Wanda.

The third and last of the induced children Hydra used Wanda to create for them, was the one she was currently pregnant with. And it was the only one were the father was outright stated as was the intended recipient of said child. 

Apparently Hydra had stolen a sample of sperm given as part of the Citizen’s Duty compliance protocol. The child was dubbed _M Class Enhanced Asset B_ , the sperm donor was identified as being from the same alpha group as the offspring _Organic Citizen’s Duty Asset_ was from. The baby’s father was Mathew Murdock. And it was a boy. 

The plans for the baby Wanda was currently gestating were detailed and less obscure than the others. The intended caregiver was stated as ‘Agent Hale’. A female Hydra operative embedded in the US Air Force, the woman was already pregnant herself. Agent Hale had been fingered as the vessel from which Hydra’s future leader would be born, she’d been artificially inseminated willingly and was the perfect candidate to hide _M Class Enhanced Asset B_ until it was ready to be put inside something called a ‘Particle Infusion Chamber’. 

Darcy was just glad Hydra’s plans for Wanda and Matt’s baby were shot to shit by the Avengers rescue.  
.

.  
When they’d gathered as much information and details from the files as possible there was really only one question left on her mind, though Thor was the first to speak and ask, “How do we rescue these other children that have been stolen from the young woman Wanda?” 

“We’ve got to find them first.” Tony replied.

“And bring these last remaining Hydra operatives to justice.” Steve added.

Darcy knew they would do it. Her men were brave and strong and smart. They would save the children and kick the bad guy’s asses. She had every confidence in them and their abilities. However, it occurred to her that they completely missed the biggest unanswered question of all. “How do we tell Wanda what we’ve discovered? She deserves to hear the truth. We have to tell her.”

Her brave and strong and smart men stared back at her with no answers.   
.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you use the invite code WICKED17WRITER to sign up for Poshmark you will receive $10 to spend on whatever you want! 
> 
> Also, I have a new idea for a story so this one is coming to end very soon! Hope you liked the chapter!!!!


	20. Chapter 20 - The End.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates here at the end of the fic. My mom had surgery and stuff in real life (selling on Poshmark and caring for my mom) got in the way. BUT NOW, our finale has arrived. So...brace yourselves?
> 
> ++++Also!  
> If you use the invite code WICKED17WRITER to sign up for Poshmark you will receive $10 to spend on whatever you want! & bonus! You can look me up on the app and buy some of my stuff. (Hell yeah, BLATANT SELF PROMOTION!!!!)  
> So....POSHMARK, try it! They have Loungefly bags (which is the thing I"M OBSESSED WITH) I literally have a Captain America bag, a Captain America mini-backpack, a Storm from the X-men bag, a Fantasia bag, a Hercules bag, a Pocahontas bag, a Avengers mini backpack and a Thor tote bag. And I got them all on Poshmark.  
> (loungefly bags are really well made and awesome and every marvel/disney fan should have at least one in my opinion)
> 
> Okay, enough dreaming about nerdgirl must haves, on with the show!

Chapter 20 – The End

_When they’d gathered as much information and details from the files as possible there was really only one question left on her mind, though Thor was the first to speak and ask, “How do we rescue these other children that have been stolen from the young woman Wanda?”_

_“We’ve got to find them first.” Tony replied._

_“And bring these last remaining Hydra operatives to justice.” Steve added._

_Darcy knew they would do it. Her men were brave and strong and smart. They would save the children and kick the bad guy’s asses. She had every confidence in them and their abilities. However, it occurred to her that they completely missed the biggest unanswered question of all. “How do we tell Wanda what we’ve discovered? She deserves to hear the truth. We have to tell her.”_

_Her brave and strong and smart men stared back at her with no answers._  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
6 Months Later

The mansion had been a flurry of activity all week; Wanda was a couple days away from her due date and the prospect of a new life being brought into the world had lifted spirits considerably. But also, company was coming and so excitement was in the air. 

Darcy patted her swollen belly as she shuffled past Bruce who was counting towels outside the bathroom.  
She wasn’t surprised to see him checking and double checking the ‘birthing room’ aka the master bathroom supplies. The good doctor was a little stressed out about being roped into being the primary care physician for both her and Wanda. Despite how many times he reminded them ‘he wasn’t that kind of doctor’ he had both her and Wanda’s trust and after what they’d all been through that was his most important qualification. 

“G’morning.” She mumbled sleepily. 

“Hey.” Bruce said with a quick but brief smile. He had calmed down somewhat when Thor volunteered to be an assistant midwife, but he was still a bundle of nerves. “After you eat something I want you to come by my room so I can do a brief exam. We need to stay on top of your vitals considering this will be your first alien baby birth back on Earth.” 

“Say that five times fast.” She quipped offhandedly. 

Her response brought the smile back to her lips. “I’m serious, no blowing me off to hang out with the kids or one of your handsome husbands. It’s important that you get regular checkups as we approach your due date.” 

“Brucie Bear,” She sighed as she slumped against the door tiredly. She paused to enjoy the sight of Bruce suppressing a laugh at her choice of term of endearment. “I’m not due for another couple weeks yet.” She reminded him, “You should be focused on Wanda” 

“I am.” He argued without passion, but then his demeanor shifted. And he was reaching out and touching her belly. The professionalism melted away from his person for just a second.

“But you’re my patient too.” He confessed, “And too often you forget to think about yourself. You keep this crazy house of cards together. You keep everyone from fighting or falling apart and it’s amazing, I honestly don’t know how you do it. But, Darcy, I want you to know that I’m here to do the same for you.” 

He was staring deeply into her eyes and for just a moment it felt like they were back in that gray drab interview room. There was a glimmer of want or wistfulness in how he was looking at her. And then the moment passed. Shaking his head Bruce blushed and began to stammer. “Uh, I mean, as your doctor, of course.” He jerked his hand away from her stomach adding, “And friend.” 

Reaching out she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. Post Hulkification, Bruce was now sterile. He would never have a traditional family and though he claimed he didn’t mind she knew it saddened him. “You’re not just my doctor and friend Bruce; you’re an Avenger and a part of the family.” 

The tips of his ears went red and Darcy suppressed the urge to tease him about it. 

“I know.” He said sounding resigned but also grateful. Slowly he slipped his hand out of her grip. And she allowed him to change the subject without further comment. With a quirk of his lips he asked, “So, was the little guy beating you up again?” 

“ _She_ ” She put emphasis on the pronoun, “kicked the crap out of my bladder all night long. I barely slept.” 

“Hence everyone letting you sleep until noon.” 

“It’s noon?” She asked with surprise. 

“Jarvis alerted me that you would be waking up soon so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone. Check up on the supplies and harangue you about actually attending a check up.” He informed her with a pointed look. 

“Bah.” She waved her hand dismissively, “Leave me alone to pee and shower.” 

When Wanda had decided to not only forgo having her baby at a hospital but also insisted she wanted a ‘water birth’ everyone but Thor thought she was crazy. When face to face with Wanda Bruce had projected calm and confidence saying he would brush up on the aquatic procedure and he was sure they could make it happen. But in private she had seen him freaking out and pouring over medical text books.  
That was when Darcy who was almost as pregnant as Wanda at this point, decided she also wanted to have her baby at home, just not in a bathtub. 

Setting about with her morning routine Darcy grabbed her tooth brush and let her mind wander. It had been months since Wanda’s rescue and so much had happened in such a short amount of time it almost boggled the mind. 

She had endured so much cruelty and yet the woman had planned dual baby showers. She was looking forward to being a mother again. She was with rebuilding her relationship with Scott. It was amazing to witness the young mutant’s transformation from broken soul to a woman reborn. That was not to say Wanda was fully recovered, she had more healing to do, but Darcy suspected focusing on the future helped keep the young woman’s mind from drowning in the past. As did the rescue of one of her lost Hydra induced children. 

The Avengers had been on an epic Hydra destroying rampage ever since Wanda’s recovery. On one of their most successful missions some three months ago, they found Wanda’s little girl alive and well and sleeping in a cage at a lab. 

The child was being raised by scientists who seemed to treat her more like a lab rat than a human being. As a result the girl’s mental and emotional well-being was straight trash. She suffered from child attachment disorder, was confused by emotions, and often rejected physical comforts and attempts at affection. Darcy thought confronting the abuse her daughter had endured might be one straw too many for Wanda and it would break her, but finding the child had done the opposite. 

Wanda came back to herself in her attempts to correct what had been done to her daughter. In trying to teach the child what love was she allowed herself to experience it again with Scott. With all of them really. After her rescue Wanda had been in despair and bitter about the large family Darcy had acquired. She wasn’t overt about it, but it was there, just under the surface of every interaction. Tony had constructed a quick and dirty guest house in the backyard almost immediately after finding Wanda, but it wasn’t until they recovered the lost child that she, Scott, and Wanda actually moved in. They still had all their meals in the mansion, but the separation had done wonders for Wanda’s disposition. 

When they first recovered Wanda’s baby she didn’t have a name, but a designation, they called her “B2” or ‘it’. Physically the child was in perfect health. And she was adorable. She had dark hair and warm chocolate brown eyes and for a two year old she moved with an unnatural grace. Wanda had renamed the girl ‘Annabella’, but they all called her Bella for short. 

Interacting with Darcy’s children and having quiet ‘family time’ with Scott and Wanda in the bungalow had brought the girl out of her shell and everyone was proud of the great strides she’d made in just three short months. 

Upon rescue Bruce had done a full work up on Bella, it was a shock when they discovered her perfect health wasn’t a result of the conscientious care taken by the scientists who were rising, but the Super Solider Serum in her DNA. DNA which was by design 50% mutant, 50% obedient Hydra soldier. 

Learning that, they knew the identity of Bella’s biological father could only be one of a handful of candidates. Most of who lived at the mansion already. And so they did a paternity test. 

It was Bucky. Bucky was Bella’s father. 

When Wanda was captured by Hydra they must have used frozen sperm collected from Bucky’s ‘Winter Soldier’ days to impregnate her. And so another layer of incestuous fate fuckery was heaped upon their motley crew leaving everyone scrambling. 

Darcy turned on the water of the shower as hot as she could stand. Her muscles were stiff and the heat felt good. Quickly she lathered up her body. An errant thought entered her mind as she did so, _when Wanda was in Hydra’s clutches who helped her bath when she was too drugged to do it herself?_ It was a question with gross and disturbing implications. She tried to think about it, but she couldn’t help it. Wanda had so much stripped away from her when she was with Hydra. Not just the big things like freedom and her children, but little things like dignity and privacy. What was done to Wanda was a violation of her human rights. And it was horrific. And Darcy, selfishly, was so glad it hadn’t happened to her. 

She put her head directly under the spray of the water and felt grateful. Had she been in Wanda’s shoes she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to feel safe or clean again. Wanda was truly a marvel of strength, both inner and outer. And in that regard Darcy couldn’t find it in herself to begrudge the woman what she felt she needed to help her child recover, even if it meant causing pain to the girl’s biological father in the process.

At the request of Wanda and Scott, Bucky agreed not to overly involve himself in Bella’s life. They didn’t want it to confuse her or complicate things as they helped the damaged child learn how to be a person. Darcy thought it was the wrong move, but Wanda loved Scott, and Bella was her daughter and so naturally she wanted her daughter to think of Scott as her father. And after the hell Wanda had been through Bucky didn’t feel like it was his place to oppose her wishes. He yielded to Wanda’s wants without ever even voicing his own to anyone. 

No one but Darcy knew the truth.

Bucky tried very hard to hide the fact that he felt vulnerable and alienated. He continued to make breakfast with a smile, he kissed Steve casually before he left the house, he carried Maria-Sarah on his shoulders when she demanded it and so on and so on. He still acted ‘normal’, but it was an act. One only Darcy seemed to see through. 

So of course, when she called him on it, he’d been surprised. But then he turned it around and surprised her by opening up and being honest about how he felt. 

All the time Bucky had been acting as Steve’s partner and co-parent where Maria-Sarah was concerned he felt like he’d been doing so in a diminished or secondary capacity. And in a way it was only natural given the state he was in when Maria-Sarah was a baby. 

When Steve first tracked him down Maria-Sarah was a newborn and Bucky was still trying to claw his way back to his memories and own sense of self. He wasn’t capable of caring for a baby, so Steve never let him, Steve never fully trusted him with his daughter. And when he’d finally recovered most of his mind, it was too late to change things. Precedent had been set, roles had been cast, and judgments had been made. 

He was ‘uncle Bucky’. He was Steve’s boyfriend. Not daddy. Not papa. Not the primary caregiver, not even close. He was just ‘uncle Bucky’, three years later and he was still _just_ ‘uncle Bucky’. By default Bucky’s word wasn’t final in Maria-Sarah’s eyes, Steve’s was because he wasn’t “in charge” or her real father…Steve was. And that was the crux of why Bucky didn’t share these feelings with Steve and chose instead to open up to Darcy. 

She was maybe the one person who best understood how he felt in this regard. As time rolled on she had experienced some of the same ‘second place’ syndrome where Maria-Sarah and Winn were concerned. Usually it was just little things though, like when something scared them or they mastered a new skill, it was never _her_ who they ran to first. It was their father’s. And it wasn’t malicious on their part; just instinct. 

However where she had hope and faith that this would not always be the case, Bucky did not. Not with Maria-Sarah and certainly not with Winn or the others. But with Bella? Yeah, he had that hope. He saw the child as a chance to try again to prove himself capable of being a person who deserved love and a future and family. 

Wanda’s request for ‘distance’ destroyed that hope. 

By being the one person privy to Bucky’s inner conflict where Bella was concerned, a bond was formed between the two of them. He told her how ashamed and angry and sad he was about how Hydra continued to manipulate them even after they broke free of their control. He told her how much he loved Steve, but wished he could have a biological child of his own. One who’s life he could be a part of from beginning to end. It was a longing she related to deep in her bones. The time stolen from her to be with her Earth bound children was like a bitter pill she would never fully be able to choke down. 

And through this one soul bearing conversation, Darcy and Bucky’s relationship shifted in a fundamental way. They were closer than friends and yes, there was an attraction and undeniable chemistry, but they both were hesitant to explore it. Their lives were complicated enough. Having another friend was helpful and a comfort, wanting anything more just seemed like asking for trouble.

It was awkward, but a comfortable, mutually agreed upon awkwardness. And it worked, they were friends, confidants, and for Darcy at least it was like another brick had finally slotted into place. Bucky was a man she knew she could depend on and with a life like hers that was nothing to sneer at. 

Still, even from a distance, Bucky was proud of all the progress Bella had made under Scott and Wanda’s care. She’d recently begun to smile, make eye contact without tensing up, and even speak! It was a blessing when the haunted look in Bella’s eyes began to fade. When she stopped flinching at unexpected movement or sound, it was a miracle. And as her violent outbursts dwindled in frequency Darcy couldn’t help but wonder if all the love and patience which had done wonders for the girl, would be promptly _undone_ as routine’s were upended and schedules were altered to accommodate the arrival of Wanda’s new baby. 

Darcy turned off the water and got out of the shower feeling cleaner but a little depressed for where her thoughts had drifted. “Hey J?” 

“Yes Miss Darcy?” 

“What’s the ETA on our visitors?” 

“Sir, Mr. Hogun, and the boys left not ten minutes ago to retrieve your party from the airport. They should arrive no later than one thirty.”

As she set about drying off she asked, “And where’s everyone else?” 

“Dr. Banner is in his office making some notes however I must inform you he is the unwitting subject of another so called ‘harmless’ prank and he is soon to discover he is glued to his chair.” 

“Clint and Zoran?” She guessed already knowing the answer. 

“Indeed Miss Darcy.” Rolling her eyes she slipped into a bath robe and hung up her used towel. Jarvis continued, “The mischievous pair is currently hiding in the air ducts awaiting their prey discovering his misfortune.” 

“Blow an air horn at full volume out of the speaker closest to their location, record everything, and call Thor if further adult supervision is required.” Darcy commanded.

Sounding secretly pleased Jarvis replied. “At once Miss Darcy.”  
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After getting dressed Darcy went to the kitchen. Bucky was waiting for her at the kitchen island. A bowl of oatmeal was placed in front of the empty chair next to him. He was tapping away at a tablet paying her entrance no mind. 

“I’ve been ordered to ensure you eat something healthy.” He told her without looking up. 

“Blah healthy, I want bacon.” She whined as she settled into her chair. 

“No bacon.” Bucky denied without remorse. “Doctor’s orders.” 

“Boo.” 

“I made brownies for your friends,” Bucky said with a lilting tone. “If you finish the oatmeal you can sneak one before they get here.” 

A frown marred her face as she lifted a spoonful of the white goo and let it drop back into the bowl. Under her breath she grumbled, “But I hate oatmeal.”

A snort to her left sent her glaring at her companion. “It’s oat goo,” She said accusingly, “And I don’t know why you people keep making me eat it!”

“It’s healthy.” He said smoothly as he slid a bowl from the other side of himself and pushed it at her. “Here, add some blueberries and sliced up bananas on top. You like that.” 

“I hate you.” She grumped as she did as he suggested.

From out of nowhere he produced a Ziploc bag of mini-chocolate chips and threw it at her chest. She perked up. “Chocolate?” 

“Don’t tell Banner.” He said with a smile, still not looking at her. 

Darcy grabbed his shoulder and tugged him close. She pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek and then shoved him away from her. “Okay, fine I like you again.” 

“Whew.” Bucky mimed wiping sweat off his brow. “That’s a relief.” 

“Shaddup.” With a smirk Bucky went back to tapping away at his tablet. 

Darcy set her mind back to finishing her breakfast; Jarvis played some mellow tunes making the ‘comfortable silence’ even better, because silence is stupid and inherently awkward no matter how much you like someone.  
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As she swallowed the last bite of her food Bucky turned off his tablet and shifted to face her. He spoke succinctly as if giving a report to a superior officer. “Stevie and Thor are with Maria-Sarah and the dogs at the beach, they should be back in half an hour. Sam went out flying with Alice and her Pegasus. Clint and Zoran retreated to the play room to play Marco Polo in the ball pit. Bruce is hiding in his room. And Wanda and Scott and the kid are out in the bungalow, but there status is unknown.” 

Darcy booped him on the nose. It was a way of silently reminding him where he was and who he was with and how he didn’t have to act anymore. He made an amused snort and ducked his head to hide his smile. 

“Anything else?” She teased. 

“Jarvis?” Bucky asked. 

“Your guests will be arriving in twenty-two minutes.” 

Bucky grinned at her, “And I am your babysitter for the next twenty-two minutes. So what do you want to do?” 

Just as she was opening her mouth to respond Jarvis butted in. “I should remind you Miss Darcy, of your appointment with Dr. Banner.” 

“Nope.” Darcy disagreed, “you should not remind me J.” 

Jarvis’s silent response somehow managed to feel beleaguered, but she didn’t dwell on the AI’s judgment. She was very excited about her friends coming to visit and waiting twenty-two minutes would be torture if she didn’t have something fun to do and distract her until then. 

“And we’re doing what instead?” Bucky asked.

With mock seriousness Darcy detailed her plan. “Nerf gun wall. Zoran and Clint. You and Me. War.” 

“Sounds like fun Doll.” He agreed with an indulgent smile.  
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Twenty-two minutes later Jarvis let them know that Tony and the boys were home and that their guests had arrived. 

“TIME OUT!” Clint yelled. 

Zoran zoomed back to his side. “Aw,” he whined disappointedly, “I was this close to shooting Bucky in the face!” 

“That’s what I wanted you to think pipsqueak!” Bucky taunted from his perch on top of the indoor jungle gym.

“Help!” Darcy called out as she kicked down her pillow fort of protection, “I’m pregnant and I can’t get up from my cushiony sniper nest.” 

Zoran zoomed over and offered her a hand so she could leverage her way out of the circular reading nook. “I gotted you mama.” 

“Thank you baby.” 

Zoran then raised his nerf gun and shot her in the clavicle. With a mischievous inflection he repeated himself. “I gotted you mama.” 

“Atta boy!” Clint cheered. In a show of team Darcy solidarity Bucky shot him in the forehead with a suction cupped dart. 

Clint turned on Bucky aghast, “Hey! I said time out!” 

“Oh, cry me a river Hawkdork.” Darcy replied as she shot off the last of her nerf darts in quick succession. Clint was too crafty and agile though. She missed five times.

He stood up and put his hands on his hips crying out, “Ha!” 

Bucky shot him in the cheek. And then the ear. And then the neck. And then Clint put his hands up in surrender.

“Ha, ha.” Darcy said mockingly. Swinging their joined hands Zoran copied her, “Ha ha!” 

“Hey!” Clint squawked, “You’re supposed to be on my team!” 

“I’s always on mama’s team.” He turned and looked up at her, “Ya know, secretly.” 

“I know my good boy baby boy.” Darcy cooed obnoxiously as she did her best to mess up her son’s hair and annoy him. 

With flailing limbs and squeals of laughter he ran away from her yelling, “I’mgonnagosay hitoWinnandTonyandeverybody.Catchmeifyoucan!”

“Did you catch any of that?” Clint asked doubtfully.

“I think that was the point.” Bucky said as he collected the discarded weapons and put them back up on the wall.  
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Zoran ran ahead and evidently found their guests not that exciting because before Clint, Bucky, and Darcy even reached the door he and Winn went running past them giggling excitedly.

“Hi mommy! Bye mommy!” Winn called out breathlessly, putting a frown on her face. 

“What kind of welcome is that?” She questioned feeling oddly slighted.

“He’s excited to play with his brother.” Bucky comforted, easily reading her mood. “It has nothing to do with ignoring you.” 

Clint grunted his agreement and Darcy forced herself not to dwell. Especially when they had guests!

“We’re in the living room!” Tony called out just as Darcy and her escorts reached the foyer. 

Complaining just to complain she said, “I’m pregnant, why is he making me walk so much?”

“Oh yeah, cuz standing around in the front hallway would have been so much better on your aching lower back.” Clint retorted. Darcy made a noise of acknowledgement of his point.

Reaching out she put a hand around Clint’s bicep and Bucky’s metal arm as they descended the three short steps from foyer hallway into the living room. 

Tony was lounging on the sofa, with Tyr standing tensely nearby; her son’s suspicious eyes were glued to their two visitors. She had extended an invitation to visit before the babies were born to Hope, Jane, Jessica, Coulson, Matt, May, Erik, and Natasha. She was sad to receive so many excuses akin to “Can’t get away from work, sorry”. But she was so happy to receive to ‘yes’s’.

“This is some view you got Stark.” Jessica Jones commented as she stood with her back to Darcy and looked out at the ocean from the window. 

“Yeah.” Matt Murdock added with a twitch of his lips, but he was looking in her general direction. Not out the window he couldn’t see out of because he was blind. 

“Hey stranger.” He greeted with a big smile. “Long time no see.” 

Darcy felt tears prick her eyes at the sight of them. Jessica was wearing jeans and motorcycle jacket looking tall and skinny and bad ass just like Darcy remembered. Matt was wearing a suit that looked cheap but was tailored to fit him nicely. He had his red tinted glasses and collapsible cane held tightly in one hand. 

“You came!” She cried out as she waddled as fast as she could towards them. Jessica whipped around just in them to catch Darcy as she all but threw arms around her and Matt. It was difficult with the giant belly on her front and the height difference, but she managed. “You actually came!” 

Trying to downplay the moment Jessica retorted, “Don’t pee yourself in excitement.”

Contrary to his female companion Matt’s voice was full of emotion and sincerity, “Of course we came.” 

Jessica allowed the contact for longer than Darcy expected, but eventually she pulled away and took a step back to really take her in. “Wow. You’re really pregnant.” 

The smile fell from her face and her voice turned flat and unenthused. “Thanks.” 

“You know what I mean.” Jessica chuckled, but Matt was quick to compliment her and smooth over the moment. “You look beautiful.”

“You literally can’t see me.” Darcy accused as she stepped away from him. 

“Yes, but your beauty is so transcendent that even a blind man can see it.” Tony said as he jumped up and inserted himself between her and her friends for a hello kiss.

“I can’t believe he just said that with a straight face.” Jessica commented as she and Tony broke apart. 

But Tony was there and in her face and so he had her full undivided attention. “Hi.” 

“Hi.”

“I missed you.” She said as she pulled him closer by his tie. Tony answered her with a kiss, this one longer than a ‘hello’.

“You were apart for five hours!” Clint exclaimed.

Tony pulled away to glare at him, “We’re newlyweds asshole. Let us enjoy the honeymoon period.”  
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Dinner that night was a lively affair. They’d gathered in the big dining room of the mansion and everyone was in good spirits. The kids were obsessed with Matt and his not-blind-blindness, they kept throwing things at him trying to catch him off guard, but yelled enthusiastically every time he blocked or deflected the objects with his quick reflexes. 

Thor was equally fascinated with Matt, but he was more interested in the justice system and kept peppering him questions about the law and the consequences of breaking it. 

“What if you steal food to give it to hungry children?” 

“Still against the law.” 

“What if you steal the food from a corrupt person?”

“Still against the law.” 

“What if you steal the food, but eat the evidence really quickly.” 

“…well, if they can’t prove it.”

“Huzzah!” 

Darcy was not subtle about her attempts to set up Jessica and Sam. She kept trying to draw them into conversation, she sat them right next to each other, and she kept telling Jessica random and impressive facts about Sam. The pair was pretty easygoing about her matchmaking overtures, but it wasn’t until Sam gave in and had some whine that the two actually began talking and getting kind of flirty.

“This is going so well.” Wanda commented with a wince, “I almost hate to ruin it.” 

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked with concern. Next to him Bella tensed up visibly and sunk down lower into her seat. Getting the reclusive little girl to join them at the boisterous table had been a feat, but she knew at the first sign of tempers or tantrums the girl would bolt and hide. 

“Um.” Wanda’s eyes shifted to Darcy. She looked…apologetic. 

“What’s wrong?” Darcy prompted, feeling a pit form in her stomach now as well.

“My water just broke.” Wanda confessed quietly. 

Darcy’s eyebrows rose. “Oh.” 

“OH!” Scott echoed shouting. Getting to his feet abruptly his chair fell backwards hitting the ground with a thump, this caught everyone’s attention and a hush fell over the room. 

Darcy saw Bella’s small form disappear underneath the table. Her eyes immediately cut over to her eldest son and daughter. With a nod of her head she gestured to the escaping child. Her children followed her silent instruction and caught sight of Bella’s fluffy skirt disappearing out the open doorway. At once the pair of them sighed. Wanda had asked to have both her and Scott there with her while she was giving birth, which meant the minding of Bella would fall to Alice and Tyr. Besides Scott and Wanda and Thor who was the one to ultimately find her and rescue her, her eldest children had the best rapport with the emotionally scarred girl. And they were the most capable should the child lash out physically. 

As Alice and Tyr got up from the table casting her forlorn glances she mouthed the words ‘thank you’. 

Loudly Scott announced, “The baby’s coming!” Under the table Chip, Brooke, and Lucky began to bark at the sudden mood shift. 

“What?!” Clint exclaimed as he called his dog to him to quiet him down. 

“Oh god.” Jessica grumbled and she grabbed the wine bottle off the table and drank straight from it. 

Steve pulled Brooke half in his lap and patted her on the side commenting, “Wow, talk about timing?”

“What a wonderful surprise!” Thor said with a broad smile, he nodded at Wanda, “Congratulations!” 

“This is happening.” Bruce whispered looking a little pale, “I’m really going to have to do this.” 

“You’ll be fine.” Tony waved off his friends concern, pushing a glass at him he encouraged Bruce, “Take a drink, take a breath and then take control of the situation.”

She and Tony exchanged a quick concerned glance as Bruce robotically accepted the glass and downed all the contents. Tony and she were the closest to Bruce, so they both knew he was nervous, but Tony got a hold of Bruce’s medical school records and knew without a shadow of a doubt the man was capable of the task they had asked of him. Especially with Thor acting as his assistant. 

Whether or not _Bruce_ believed Bruce could do it was the real question. 

“Okay.” Bruce said with blustery confidence. Slamming down the empty glass onto the table he got to his feet with a look of determination. With enthusiasm Bruce declared, “Let’s do this.” 

“Yeah!” Scott threw a fist in the air.

“You idiots know labor lasts for hours right?” Darcy reminded them. 

“And you won’t be doing any of the hard work.” Wanda added with a glare at the two men standing.

Scott deflated. “Well, yeah.” 

Awkwardly adorable Bruce took off his glasses and cleaned them with the tails of his shirt. “Of course.” 

“Of course.” Tony repeated with a smirk. He slapped Bruce on the ass and then held up his glass to Wanda, “Cheers, to new beginnings.” 

Darcy picked up her glass and raised it as well. “To new life.” 

Wanda, looking teary eyed picked up her own glass and clinked it with Darcy’s. “To us.” 

“To you.” Thor nodded.

“To family.” Scott said with a soft look on his face. He picked up a glass and gestured it to everyone at the table. “To friends. And the people who help you through the hard times that feel like they will never end. Until one day they do. And you’re happy again.” 

“I love you.” Wanda whispered up at her still standing beau. “So much.” 

“I love you.” Scott responded and then they kissed and it was so romantic and such a perfect momen—“ _BUUUUUUURRRRP_ ”

High pitched little boy giggles ruined the touch scene and all eyes shot over to Winn and Zoran. Winn pointed at his half brother and sold him out. “He did it.” 

“He dared me!” Zoran defended with a grin, no one was angry with him and he knew he wasn’t in trouble.

“You kids are unmannered little ruffians, you know that?” Sam said as he stole a swig from Jessica’s bottle.

“I fucking hate kids.” Jessica groused as she stole the bottle back.

“Mama?” Zoran asked as he ran over to be at her side, “Does this mean you’re going to have your baby too?”

“Please, god not at the same time.” Bruce said under his breath making everyone chuckle.

“Not today.” She told him with a grin.  
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The labor was long and painful but in the end Wanda was had a healthy baby boy. Thor helped transfer mom and baby the designated guest room where the pair would spend the next couple of days recovering. After hours and hours of sitting by her best friend’s side and holding her hand, Darcy was exhausted.

Tony came for her. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” She grabbed for him and the next thing she knew she was in his arms and her head was on his shoulder. 

“I love you.” He told her quietly as he brought her into their bedroom. “I’m in awe of you. I’m in love with you. And I’m proud of you. You are a good friend. And a far better person than I will ever be.” 

He sold himself short. She ran a tired hand across his brow. “You would have done the same if you were in my shoes.” 

“You were in there for ten hours.” 

“Oh wow.” Darcy marveled, “I hadn’t realized…”

She was extremely tired and grateful for Tony moving around her, settling her into bed, taking off her clothes, using a warm wet rag to clean her face. And then he was by her side, holding her close and letting her drift off in his arms.  
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The next time she was awake, dressed, and clean and once again looking for breakfast, Tony accompanied her to the kitchen. Matt was there eating cold scrambled eggs. When he saw them he smiled but it was a tired and strained smile. 

The baby Wanda gave birth to was Matt Murdock’s biological child and everyone knew it, but he wasn’t there to meet his child. He’d come to visit Darcy specifically before the child was to be born to avoid exactly what happened. He hadn’t want to meet the son he would never father. When they told him about Wanda and the stolen sperm from the Citizen’s Duty process, he’d laughed, and said, “I guess I fulfilled my duty after all.” 

He was truly at peace with having his child be raised by Scott and Wanda as _their_ child. She knew he was. But still, seeing them together with the tiny bundle of joy which was made of half of his DNA had to be…thought provoking at the very least. 

“Hi.” Matt greeted.

“Good morning.” Darcy said softly as Tony helped her into a chair next to him at the kitchen island. Her human husband pressed a kiss to her temple and told her to ‘sit tight’.

She and Matt watched Tony putter around the kitchen in silence. 

“I’m making pancakes.” Tony announced as he seemed to finally make up his mind. He grabbed something out of the fruit basket and threw at her, Matt caught it before it could make contact with her face. 

“Eat a banana.” Tony ordered with a grin.

Matt handed over the fruit and she took the opportunity to ask a question she already knew the answer to. “Are you okay?” 

Matt sniffed and pushed his plate away from him. “I’m fine.” 

Darcy peeled the banana and stared at Matt for a moment before biting into it. “I can feel you eyes on me.” He informed her quietly.

“It’s okay to want a family.” She told him. “Of your own. Seeing the baby, I know you didn’t want to meet him. And I think I know why. And it’s okay if things have changed for you, if you want more---” 

“But I don’t.” Matt said shaking his head. “I could never live this way and be happy.” 

He sounded relieved. Gesturing to Tony with one hand he had an incredulous grin on his face. “Darcy, you’ve married a genius billionaire and an alien prince. You have an American icon and his best friend head over heels in love with you and just waiting in the wings to join your already unorthodox ‘marriage’.” 

“Don’t use air quotes when talking about my marriage, Murdock.” Tony interrupted. “I like you, but I will end you.”

In response to Tony’s actually serious threat, Matt laughed. “You see?”

“See what?” 

“Darcy, you’ve made yourself this crazy impossible life. I mean, take Tony, he obviously loves you more than life itself and yet he is willing to share you with not one, but several other men.”

“I don’t own her.” Tony interjected with a frown. “I can’t ‘share her’ with anyone. And for the record, Steve and Bucky as a pair are still a hard ‘maybe’ about joining in on the _relationship_ my wife and her husband and I share.” 

Truly confused about Matt’s reaction she asked, “What are you saying Matt?” 

“You have five children and a sixth on the way. You’ve got dogs and a flying horse and ex-assassins and Captain America and a spy and your mutant best friend and her boyfriend who is also your other best friend and the God of Thunder and Stark and, and…You all live here together under one roof and the place is still standing. From what I’ve seen, your men don’t resent each other. Your children get along. You’re all somehow, impossibly, happy.” 

“Yes and?” Tony quipped making her smile and Matt chuckle.

“And I’d go crazy living here.” Matt conceded. “You’re life is very noisy.” 

Instinctually Darcy knew that was a half truth. With a shrewd look Tony glanced between her and Matt, who was avoiding looking at either of them. 

“And you wouldn’t be able to hack it.” Tony said knowingly, he sounded so sure. Gesturing to Darcy with his head he spelled it out for her since he was apparently ten steps ahead of her. “But you still want her. And that’s what got you all twisted up inside.” 

Matt looked up and nodded at Tony, “I don’t know how you do it Stark. Darcy is just as beautiful and amazing as I remember. And here you are competing with the perfect male specimen, areformed bad boy assassin with a heart of gold, a literal God, possibly the most adorable and annoyingly powered children to ever walk the earth, and yet you seem so…chill.” 

“Chill?” Tony scoffed. 

Hearing confirmation that Matt still carried a torch for her after all this time? Darcy was legitimately shocked. She’d honestly thought his weirdness was about his and Wanda’s baby stirring up ‘I want a family of my own’ feelings. She honestly hadn’t thought about Matt in the romantic sense in forever. 

“You know what I mean.” Matt ducked his head blushing.

“I do.” Tony said softly. As he came around the counter to be at Matt’s side, Darcy oddly felt like an intruder on a private moment. When Tony put a hand on Matt’s shoulder it prompted the blind man to lift his head slightly. 

“But you got it all wrong Matty. I’m not in competition with anyone and if I was I’ve already won because Darcy chose me.” Tony’s eyes lifted to meet hers for a brief second and she nodded at him, she had chosen him and she would do every day for the rest of her life. His eyes reverted back to Matt. He spoke with confidence and a surprising amount of compassion as he explained, “She loves _me_. Not my money, or my power and influence, just me. And truthfully, I was a very lonely man before Darcy. So you see? The other guys, the kids, the pets, the wacky best friends, and all the madness that comes with her? It’s icing.”

Matt gave a minuscule nod and Tony clapped him on the shoulder almost consolingly. And then a voice from the doorway called out, “Oh!”

Tony looked up sharply and quickly removed his hand from Matt’s body . Taking a few steps backward he forced a casual look onto his face as he eyed the intruders. 

Jessica and Sam stood in the doorway looking disheveled and bleary eyed, but oddly satisfied? Sam read the mood of the room easily, “We’re interrupting a moment aren’t we?” 

“Yes.” Darcy answered quickly, but it was clear to her that Tony and Matt wanted nothing more than to pretend this conversation had never happened. 

“Too bad.” Jessica said breezily as she shoved Sam inside, “I need coffee and Sam’s starving.” 

“Work up an appetite last night did you?” Tony prompted with a sly expression.

Darcy perked up as she watched the easy way Jessica maneuvered Sam into the chair on Darcy’s other side. His hand lingered on Jessica’s hip as she slipped into the seat next to him, her body slightly tilted in his direction. Wordlessly Jessica accepted the cup of coffee Tony offered and Darcy’s mind quickly put together all the dots. 

“You guys had sex!?” She questioned excitedly. Sam’s answering blush was all the confirmation she needed to start clapping and yelling out obnoxiously, “Yay!” 

“No gloating out loud.” Jessica grunted. “It’s too early.” 

She exchanged a triumphant glance with Tony and then mimed clapping and mouthing the word ‘Yay!’ Tony rolled his eyes at her antics but there was a smile on his face as he turned back to the stove. 

“I can still hear you doing it.” Matt said a tentative smile on his face. 

“And we can see you.” Sam added with a gentle elbow to her side. Zoran zoomed into the room before she could say anything else. 

“Mama!” He climbed up her body and sat his butt on the counter; wrapping his arms around her neck he buried his face in her hair. “Save me!” 

“From what?” She asked as her arms protectively encircled her son. 

Two seconds later Thor and Steve came running into the room covered head to toe in fluffy white feathers. Tony was the first to burst out laughing, followed closely by everyone else.

Darcy laughingly asked, “What happened to you two?”

“Our son is Loki incarnate!” Thor boomed, however the intimidation factor was somewhat undercut by him trying to blow off a stubborn feather from his lower lip. 

“Jarvis said the kids needed us in the playroom,” Steve explained flatly, “When we opened the door a bucket full of honey fell on our heads and then Zoran turned on a fan directly in front of the door, blowing feathers at us.” He gestured to his feathered body with one hand, “This is the result.” 

It was hilarious and harmless and Darcy had a difficult time disguising her amusement as she turned to her son for an explanation. “Zoran?”

“They only blamin’ me cuz the others were hiding and I was the one to turn on da fan and—but, Clint gave-ed me the idea to play Home Alone and he went to the store and boughted the honey and Bucky helped rig up the bucket on tops of the door and the other kids help destroy pillows fur the feathers and Bruce did a safety check to make sures it wouldn’t hurted them and Alice was the one filming it and Tyr said it would be funny and it _was!_ ” Zoran then put his hands on his mother’s cheeks and forced her to turn her head and look back at the men. “Come on mama, funny is funny, and dis is hil-ar-ious.” 

“Clint gave you the idea?” Thor said looking annoyed.

“Bucky helped?” Steve said with a scowl.

“This is amazing.” Tony commented sounding ecstatic. 

Zoran tried to be comforting, “Yeah, but don’t feel bad or nothing Steve. We wasn’t tryin’ to get you and daddy pacific—spa—space-fic-ickly. We woulda been just as happy to get mama or the new people or Tony or Sam or Scott or the dogs or--”

Steve held up a hand halting Zoran from rambling on. “We get it son.” 

Upon hearing that this feathered fate could have befallen her, Darcy was suddenly less amused. She let out a grunt as she lifted Zoran off the countertop and set him down on his feet. An action which inspired several cries of protest.

“My love, your condition! You shouldn’t--”  
“Darce! Think of your lower back!”  
“Sweetheart, he’s too heavy for you to--”

“Shut it!” She cut them off dismissively. She stood up and crossed her arms and stared down at her son trying to look stern. 

Zoran avoided her gaze and toed the ground. “I’s sorry.”

Darcy didn’t know how she wanted to handle this, if it was just Zoran who had committed the treachery that would be one thing. But he had so many accomplices. 

Zoran looked up at her and he looked so innocent as he asked, “Am I in trouble mama?”

Re-crossing his arms over his chest Thor answered for her, “You are indeed my son.” 

“Aw man.” Zoran said looking discouraged. 

“Now wait a minute, you can’t blame the kid for the entire crime when he wasn’t the only perpetrator. One could argue that without his coconspirators the crime would have never been feasible. In fact, if his account is truthful, he contributed nothing but an idea, which was planted by an adult, and was given the task of turning on the fan by the others. That’s entrapment. ” Matt said sliding into lawyer mode.

“That’s a good poiont.” Darcy admitted. 

“So we let them get away with this?” Steve asked, gesturing again to his feathered body, “I thought you were the parent in favor of consequences?!”

“I am indeed.” She nodded.

“So what?” Jessica questioned, “You going to throw them all in a time out? Pfft. Good luck.” 

An evil smile spread across her face as the perfect idea for retribution struck like lightning in her mind. Looking over at Tony with a conspiratorial grin she asked, “Boo, you my ride or die?” 

“You know it.” He answered automatically, looking intrigued. 

She looked over at Sam, “You on my team?” 

“Obviously.” With amused confusion he answered her with a toothily grin, “You know I like to be on the winning side.” 

Darcy patted Matt on the back, “Technically you’re still my lawyer, so you’re my employee, so I’m ordering you to be on my side.”

“What--?”

“Hold all question until after the battle.” She waved her hand at him dismissively. 

“What are you talking about?” Jessica asked looking like she knew she wouldn’t like the answer.

Darcy ignored her for the moment and instead turned to her son. “You love me more than everyone else?” 

“Yeah!” 

Leaning down slightly she asked, “Have I ever told you about Benedict Arnold?” 

“No.” 

“Well, we’re going to war and you’re our secret weapon, go tell the others to arm themselves for battle. Then come here to get your ammunitions.” 

“What?!” Steve exclaimed, but obediently Zoran saluted her and then disappeared. 

“You can’t be serious.” Jessica said flatly. Darcy just pointed at her, “You’re on my team Jess, and don’t you dare let me down.” 

“What are we going to use as ammunition my love?” Thor asked not fazed by her wacky plan at all. 

“Huzzah!” Tony slammed two cans of whipped cream down on the counter. 

Darcy snapped and pointed at him. “And, that’s why you’re my favorite Tony.” 

She moved to the fridge and started looking for good throwing food. 

“Tonight our enemies will dine in hell!” Tony cackled.

“She can’t be for real.” Jessica murmured. 

“Aw, c’mon Jess. It’ll be fun.” Sam said cajoling, “You’ll probably get to smash something in Clint’s face?” 

“….okay.” 

“That’s the spirit!” Thor said thumping her on the back.

“Ow.” 

“My apologies.” 

Just then, Zoran returned practically bouncing on the balls of his feet before her. “I told the others what you said and they had questions and were confused but then I said bye and _mama_ , I am so excited ‘bout being Benlick Arnold and I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!”

“It means,” Steve said as he drew closer to the pair of them, “That there is some left over spaghetti in the fridge with Bucky’s name on it.” 

“Yes, Steve.” Darcy grabbed the Tupperware of which he spoke and held it out like an offering, “Come to the dark side.”

“You guys are such nerds.” Jess scoffed, but there was a smile on her face. 

Darcy pointed her finger up in the air and shouted, “To the condiments!”  
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The End.  
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2 year old “Bella”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so people, we are done. And I am...kinda emotional? Like this was the end of a very long road and I just didn't want it to end because there is more story here, but I think this is where its supposed to end for me. (at least for now) I'm dabbling with the idea of a Bucky/Darcy centric epilogue cuz you know she gonna get pregnant with his child in the future and Steve and Bucky would definitely eventually join the poly marital bed and writing a Thor/Tony/Darcy/Bucky/Steve sex scene sounds challenging but also fun, so who knows?
> 
> Also, I just want to give a shout out to Pepper, Hope, Jane, Rhodey, and all the other characters I could not squeeze into this, the final chapter. Ending it with Jessica and Matt and Wanda having a baby just felt right, given the bond they formed with Darcy during the whole Halloween fiasco and how that was the last time anyone saw Wanda before she got rescued. 
> 
> Anyway...  
> Back in September of 2017 I started writing 'Citizen's Duty' and that was the story that really brought me back into the world of writing fanfiction and now I am bursting with ideas and I've discovered a love of blending in visuals to my story telling and it was honestly hard to tell the story of a purely HUMAN Darcy suffering the messed up Hydra-Handmaiden's Tale-esque machinations of this movie/comic-canon alternate universe. But, now that it's done I feel really accomplished. 
> 
> And it's been a ride.  
> And I thank you for joining me on it.  
> For everyone who ever commented. Thank you.  
> For everyone who read this far, thank you.  
> I appreciate the love and the kudos and the encouragement along the way. 
> 
> ....now, everyone go sign up for POSHMARK and use my invite code WICKED17WRITER to get a free $10 to buy some stuff.
> 
> P.S. I will now be promoting POSHMARK every time I post a story, so if you follow my works beyond this story, get used to it.

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE LEAVE A KUDOS IF YOU LIKED THE STORY SO FAR!
> 
> &
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked the chapter!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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